COUNT    FRONTENAC. 
From  a  Statue  at  Qu«bee. 


HEROES    OF    THE 


MIDDLE    WEST 


Ube  ffrencb 


BY 

MARY   IIARTWELL  CATHEKWOOD 


BOSTON,  U.S.A. 
GINN    AND    COMPANY 

1900 


Copyright,  1898 
By  MARY  HARTWELL  CATHERWOOD 


ALL  BIGHTS  RESERVED 


PKEFAOE. 


-•0* 


Let  any  one  who  thinks  it  an  easy  task 
attempt  to  cover  the  French  discovery  and  occu- 
pation of  the  middle  west,  from  Marquette  and 
Jolliet  to  the  pulling  down  of  the  French  flag 
on  Fort  Chartres,  vivifying  men,  and  while  con- 
densing events,  putting  a  moving  picture  before 
the  eye.  Let  him  prepare  this  picture  for  young 
minds  accustomed  only  to  the  modern  aspect  of 
things  and  demanding  a  light,  sure  touch.  Let 
him  gather  his  material  —  as  I  have  done  —  from 
Parkman,  Shea,  Joutel,  Hennepin,  St.  Cosme, 
Monette,  Winsor,  Roosevelt  —  from  state  records, 
and  local  traditions  richer  and  oftener  more  reli- 
able than  history;  and  let  him  hang  over  his 
theme  with  brooding  affection,  moulding  and  re- 
moulding its  forms.  He  will  find  the  task  he  so 
lightly  set  himself  a  terribly  hard  and  exhausting 
one,  and  will  appreciate  as  he  never  before  appre- 
ciated the  labors  of  those  who  work  in  historic 
fields. 


CONTENTS. 


-•o^ 


I.  The  Discoverers  of  the  Upper  Mississippi 

II.  Bearers  of  the  Calumet 

III.  The  Man  with  the  Copper  Hand 

IV.  The  Undespairing  Norman 
"  V.  French  Settlements 

VI.  The  Last  Great  Indian    . 


PAGE 

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44 

71 
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117 


HEROES  OF  THE  MIDDLE  WESTe 


»oV»4oc 

I. 

THE  DISCOVEREBS  OF  THE  UFFEB  MISSISSIFFI. 

The  17th  of  May,  1G73,  Father  Jacques 
Marquette,  the  missionary  priest  of  St.  Tgnace, 
on  what  is  now  called  the  north  shore  of  Michi- 
gan, and  Louis  Jolliet,  a  trader  from  Montreal, 
set  out  on  a  journey  together. 

Huron  and  Ottawa  Indians,  with  the  priest 
left  in  charge  of  them,  stood  on  the  beach  to 
see  Marquette  embark,  —  the  water  running  up 
to  their  feet  and  receding  with  the  everlasting 
wash  of  the  straits.  Behind  them  the  shore 
line  of  St.  Tgnace  was  bent  like  a  long  bow. 
Northward,  beyond  the  end  of  the  bow,  a  rock 
rose  in  the  air  as  tall  as  a  castle.  But  very 
humble  was  the  small  mission  station  which 
Father  Marquette  had  founded  when  driven 
with  his  flock  from  his  post  on  the  Uj)per 
Lakes  by  the  Iroquois.     A  chapel  of  strong 

1 


2  Iferoes  of  the  Middle  West. 

cedar  posts  covered  with  bark,  his  own  hut, 
and  the  lodges  of  his  people  were  all  surrounded 
by  pointed  palisades.  Opposite  St.  Ignace, 
across  a  league  or  so  of  water,  rose  the  turtle- 
shaped  back  of  Michilimackinac  Island,  vener- 
ated by  the  tribes,  in  spite  of  their  religious 
teaching,  as  a  home  of  mysterious  giant  fairies 
who  made  gurgling  noises  in  the  rocks  along 
the  beach  or  floated  vast  and  cloud-like  through 
high  pine  forests.  The  evergreens  on  Michili- 
mackinac showed  as  if  newborn  through  the 
haze  of  undefined  deciduous  trees,  for  it  was 
May  weather,  which  means  that  the  northern 
world  had  not  yet  leaped  into  sudden  and  glori- 
ous summer.  Though  the  straits  glittered  under 
a  cloudless  sky,  a  chill  lingered  in  the  wind, 
and  only  the  basking  stone  ledges  reflected 
warmth.  The  clear  elastic  air  was  such  a  per- 
fect medium  of  sight  that  it  allowed  the  eye  to 
distinguish  open  beach  rims  from  massed  for- 
ests two  or  three  leagues  away  on  the  south 
shore,  and  seemed  to  bring  within  stone's  throw 
those  nearer  islands  now  called  Round  and  Bois 
Blanc. 

It  must  have  wrung  Marquette's  heart  to  leave 
this  region,  which  has  an  irresistible  charm  for 
all  who  come  within  its  horizon.     But  he  had 


The  Viscooerers  of  the  Upper  Mississippi.      3 


long  desired  to  undertake  this  journey  for  a 
double  purpose.  He  wanted  to  carry  his  reli- 
gion as  far  as  possible  among  strange  tribes, 
and  he  wanted  to  find  and  explore  that  great 
river  of  the  west,  about  which  adventurers  in 
the  New  World  heard  so  much,  but  which  none 
had  seen. 

A  century  earlier,  its  channel  southward  had 
really  been  taken  possession  of  by  the  Spaniards, 
its  first  discoverers.  But  they 
made  no  use  of  their  discovery, 
and  on  their  maps  traced  it  as 
an  insignificant  stream.  The 
French  did  not  know  whether 
this  river  flowed  into  the  Gulf 
of  California  —  which  was 
called  the  Red  Sea  —  or  to  the 
western  ocean,  or  through  Vir- 
ginia eastward.  Illinois  In- 
dians, visiting  Marquette's 
mission  after  the  manner  of 
roving  tribes,  described  the 
father  of  waters  and  its  tribu- 
taries. Count  Frontenac,  the  governor  of 
Canada,  thought  the  matter  of  sufficient  im- 
portance to  send  Louis  Jolliet  with  an  outfit  to 
join  the  missionary  in  searching  for  the  stream. 


Totem  of  the  Illinois. 


4  Heroes  of  the  Middle  West. 

The  explorers  took  with  them  a  party  of  five 
men.  Their  canoes,  we  are  told,  were  of  birch 
bark  and  cedar  splints,  the  ribs  being  shaped 
from  spruce  roots.  Covered  with  the  pitch  of 
yellow  pine,  and  light  enough  to  be  carried  on 
the  shoulders  of  four  men  across  portages,  these 
canoes  yet  had  toughness  equal  to  any  river 
voyage.  They  were  provisioned  with  smoked 
meat  and  Indian  corn.  Shoved  clear  of  the 
beach,  they  shot  out  on  the  blue  water  to  the 
dip  of  paddles.  Marquette  waved  his  adieu. 
His  Indians,  remembering  the  dangers  of  that 
southern  country,  scarcely  hoped  to  see  him 
again.  Marquette,  though  a  young  man,  was 
of  no  such  sturdy  build  as  Jolliet.  Among  de- 
scendants of  the  Ottawas  you  may  still  hear 
the  tradition  that  he  had  a  "white  face,  and 
long  hair  the  color  of  the  sun  "  flowing  to  the 
shoulders  of  his  black  robe. 

The  watching  figures  dwindled,  as  did  the 
palisaded  settlement.  Hugging  the  shore,  the 
canoes  entered  Lake  Michigan,  or,  as  it  was  then 
called,  the  Lake  of  the  Illinois.  All  the  islands 
behind  seemed  to  meet  and  intermingle  and  to 
cover  themselves  with  blue  haze  as  they  went 
down  on  the  water.  Priest  and  trader,  their 
skins  moist  with  the  breatli  of  the  lake,  each  in 


The  Discoverers  of  ths  Upper  Misslss'qtpL      5 

his  own  canoe,  faced  silently  the  unknown  world 
toward  which  they  were  venturing.  The  shaggy 
coast  line  bristled  with  evergreens,  and  though 
rocky,  it  was  low,  unlike  the  white  cliffs  of 
Michilimackinac. 

Marquette  had  made  a  map  from  the  descrip- 
tions of  the  Illinois  Indians.  The  canoes  were 
moving  westward  on  the  course  indicated  by 
his  map.  He  was  peculiarly  gifted  as  a  mis- 
sionary, for  already  he  spoke  six  Indian  lan- 
guages, and  readily  adapted  himself  to  any 
dialect.  Marquette,  the  records  tell  us,  came 
of  "  an  old  and  honorable  family  of  Laon,"  in 
northern  France.  Century  after  century  the 
Marquettes  bore  high  honors  in  I  aon,  and  their 
armorial  bearings  commemorated  devotion  to 
the  king  in  distress.  In  our  own  Revolution- 
ary War  it  is  said  that  three  Marquettes  fought 
for  us  with  La  Fayette.  No  young  man  of  his 
time  had  a  pleasanter  or  easier  life  offered  him 
at  home  than  Jacques  Marquette.  But  he  chose 
to  devote  himself  to  missionary  labor  in  the 
New  World,  and  had  already  helped  to  found 
three  missions,  enduring  much  hardship.  Indian 
half-breeds,  at  what  is  now  called  the  "  Soo," 
on  St.  Mary's  River,  betwixt  Lake  Huron  and 
Lake  Superior,  have  a  tradition  that  Father  Mar-^ 


6  Heroes  of  the  Middle  West. 

quette  and  Father  Dablon  built  their  missionary 
static.,  on  a  tiny  island  of  rocks,  not  more  than 
two  canoe  lengths  from  shore,  on  the  American 
side.  But  men  who  have  written  books  declare 
it  was  on  the  bank  below  the  rapids. 

Jolliet  had  come  of  different  though  not  less 
worthy  stock.  He  was  Canadian  born,  the  son 
of  a  wagon-maker  in  Quebec  ;  and  he  had  been 

Autograph  of  Jolliet. 

well  educated,  and  possessed  an  active,  adven- 
turous mind.  He  was  dressed  for  this  expedi- 
tion in  the  tough  buckskin  hunting  suit  which 
frontiersmen  then  wore.  But  Marquette  re- 
tained the  long  black  cassock  of  the  priest. 
Their  five  voyageurs  —  or  trained  woodsmen  — 
in  more  or  less  stained  buckskin  and  caps  of 
fur,  sent  the  canoes  shooting  over  the  water 
with  scarcely  a  sound,  dipping  a  paddle  now  on 
this  side  and  new  on  that,  Indian  fashion  ;  Mar- 
quette and  Jolliet  taking  turns  with  them  as  the 


The  Jj'iscooerers  of  the  i'jtper  Mississijij)i.      7 

(lay  progressed.  For  any  man,  whether  voy- 
ageur,  priest,  or  seignior,  who  did  not  know  liow 
to  paddle  a  canoe,  if  occasioi-  demanded,  was  at 
sore  disadvantage  in  the  New  World. 

The  first  day  of  any  journey,  before  one  meets 
weariness  or  anxiety  and  disappointment,  re- 
mains always  the  freshest  in  memory.  When 
th<!  sun  went  down,  leaving  violet  shadows  on 
the  chill  lake,  they  drew  their  boats  on  shore  ; 
and  Pierre  Porteret  and  another  Frenchman, 
named  Jacques,  gathered  driftwood  to  make  a 
fire,  while  the  rest  of  the  crew  unpacked  the 
cargo.  They  turned  each  canoe  on  its  side, 
propping  the  ends  with  sticks  driven  into  the 
ground,  thus  making  canopies  like  half-roofs  to 
shelter  them  for  the  night. 

"  The  Sieur  Jolliet  says  it  is  not  always  that 
we  may  light  a  camp-fire,"  said  Pierre  Porteret 
to  Jacques,  as  he  struck  a  spark  into  his  tinder 
with  the  flint  and  steel  which  a  woodsman  car- 
ried everywhere. 

"  He  is  not  likely  to  have  one  to-night,  even 
in  this  safe  cove,"  responded  Jacques,  kneeling 
to  help,  and  anxious  for  supper.  ''  Look  now  at 
me  ;  I  know  the  Indian  way  to  start  a  blaze  by 
taking  two  pieces  of  wood  and  boring  one  into 
the  other,  rubbing  it  thus  between  my  palms 


8  Hemes  of  the  Middle  West. 

It  is  a  gift.  Not  many  voyageuis  can  accom- 
plish that." 

"  Rub  thy  two  stupid  heads  together  and 
make  a  blaze,"  said  another  hungry  man,  coming 
with  a  kettle  of  lake  water.  But  the  fire  soon 
climbed  i)inkly  through  surrounding  darkness. 
They  drove  down  two  forked  suj)ports  to  hold  a 
crosspiece,  and  hung  the  kettle  to  boil  theii- 
hulled  corn.  Then  iihe  fish  which  had  b  en 
taken  by  trolling  during  the  day  were  d^^ssed 
and  broiled  on  hot  coals. 

The  May  starlight  was  very  keen  over  their 
heads  in  a  dark  blue  sky  which  seemed  to  rise 
to  infinite  heights,  for  the  cold  northern  night 
air  swept  it  of  every  film.  Their  firsc  delicious 
meal  was  blessed  and  eaten  ;  and  stretched  in 
blankets,  with  their  feet  to  the  camp  fire,  the 
tired  explorers  rested.  They  were  still  on  the 
north  shore  of  what  we  now  call  the  state  of 
Michigan,  and  their  course  had  been  due  west- 
ward by  the  compass.  A  cloud  of  Indian  tobacco 
smoke  rose  from  the  lowly  roof  of  each  canoe, 
and  its  odor  mingled  with  the  sweet  acrid  breath 
of  burning  wood.  Jolliet  and  the  voyageurs  had 
learned  to  use  this  dried  brown  weed,  which  all 
tribes  held  in  great  esteem  and  carried  about 
with  them  in  their  rovings. 


The   Discoverers  of  the  Upper  Misslssipjri      0 

"  If  true  tales  be  told  of  the  water  around  the 
Bay  of  the  Puans,"  one  of  the  voyageurs  was 
heard  to  say  as  he  stretched  himself  under  the 
canoe  allotted  to  the  men,  ''  we  may  save  our 
salt  when  we  pass  that  country." 

"Have  you  ever  heard,  Father,"  Jolliet  in- 
quired of  the  misyionary,  "  that  the  word  Puan 
meant  foul  or  ill-smelling  instead  of  salty?" 

"I  know,"  Mjtrquette  answered,  "that  salt 
has  a  vile  odor  to  the  Indians.  They  do  not 
use  it  with  their  food,  preferring  to  season  that 
instead  with  the  sugar  they  make  from  the 
maple  tree.  Therefore,  the  bay  into  which  we 
are  soon  to  venture  they  call  the  Bay  of  the 
Fetid,  or  ill-smelling  salty  country,  on  account 
of  saline  water  thereabout." 

"Then  why  do  the  Winnebago  tribe  on 
this  bay  allow  themselves  to  be  called 
Puans?" 

"  That  has  never  been  explained  by  the  mis- 
sionaries sent  to  that  post,  though  the  name 
seems  to  carry  no  reproach.  They  are  well 
made  and  tall  of  stature.  I  find  Wild  Oats  a 
stranger  name  —  the  Menomonies  are  Wild  Oats 
Indians.  Since  the  gospel  has  been  preached 
to  all  these  tribes  for  some  years  p.ast,  I  trust 
we  may  find  good  Christians  among  them." 


10  Heroes  of  the  Middle  Went. 

"  What  else  have  you  learned  about  the  coun- 
try?" 

"  Father  Dablon  told  me  that  the  way  to  the 
head  of  that  river  called  Fox,  up  which  we  must 
paddle,  is  as  hard  as  the  way  to  heaven,  spe- 
cially the  rapids.  But  when  you  arrive  there  it 
is  a  natural  paradise." 

"  We  have  tremendous  labor  before  us,"  mused 
Jolliet.  "  Father,  did  you  ever  have  speech  with 
that  Jean  Nicollet,  who,  first  of  any  Frenchman, 
got  intimations  of  the  great  river?  " 

"  I  never  saw  him." 

"  There  was  a  man  I  would  have  traveled  far 
to  see,  though  lie  was  long  a  renegade  among  sav- 
ages, and  returned  to  the  settlements  only  to  die." 

"  Heaven  save  this  expedition  from  becoming 
renegade  among  savages  by  forgetting  its  high- 
est object !  "  breathed  Marquette. 

His  companion  smiled  toward  the  pleasant 
fire-light.  Jolliet  had  once  thought  of  becoming  a 
priest  himself.  He  venerated  this  young  apostle, 
only  half  a  dozen  years  his  senior.  But  he  was 
glad  to  be  a  free  adventurer,  seeking  wealth  and 
honor  ;  not  foreseeing  that  though  the  great 
island  of  Anticosti  in  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence 
would  be  given  him  for  his  services,  he  would 
die  a  poor  and  neglected  man. 


The  Discot)erers  of  the  Upiiev  Alissisiiijjjji.    11 

When,  after  days  of  steady  progress,  the  ex- 
pedition entered  the  Bay  of  Puans,  now  called 
Green  Bay,  and  found  the  nation  of  Menomo- 
nies  or  Wild  Oats  Indians,  Marquette  was  as 
much  interested  as  Jolliet  in  the  grain  which 
gave  these  people  their  bread.  It  grew  like 
rice,  in  marshy  places,  on  knotted  stalks  which 
appeared  above  the  water  in  June  and  rose  sev- 
eral feet  higher.  The  grain  seed  was  long  and 
slender  and  made  plentiful  meal.  The  Indians 
gatliered  this  volunteer  harvest  in  September, 
when  the  kernels  were  so  ripe  that  they  dropped 
readily  into  canoes  pushed  among  the  stalks. 
They  were  then  spread  out  on  lattice  work  and 
smoked  to  dry  the  chaff,  which  could  be  trodden 
loose  when  the  whole  bulk,  tied  in  a  skin  bag, 
was  put  into  a  hollow  in  the  ground  made  for 
that  purpose.  The  Indians  pounded  their  grain 
to  meal  and  cooked  it  with  fat. 

The  Menomonies  tried  to  prevent  Marquette 
and  Jolliet  from  going  farther.  They  said  the 
great  river  was  dangerous,  full  of  frightful 
monsters  that  swallowed  both  men  and  canoes  ; 
that  there  was  a  roaring  demon  in  it  who  could 
be  heard  for  leagues  ;  and  the  heat  was  so  in- 
tense in  those  southern  countries  through  which 
it  flowed,  that  if   the  Frenchmen  escaped  all 


12  heroes  of  the  Middle  H'est, 

other  diiiigei's,  thoy  must  die  of  tliiit.  Mar- 
quette told  them  his  own  life  was  m) thing  com- 
pared to  the  good  word  he  wanted  to  cany  to 
those  southern  tribes,  and  he  laughed  at  the 
demon  and  instructed  them  in  his  own  religion. 

The  aboriginal  tribes,  by  common  instinct, 
tried  from  the  first  to  keep  the  white  man  out 
of  countries  which  lie  was  determined  to  over- 
run and  possess,  regardless  of  danger. 

At  the  end  of  a  voyage  of  thirty  leagues,  or 
about  ninety  miles,  the  explorers  reached  the 
head  of  the  Bay  of  Puans,  and  a  region  thickly 
settled  with  Winnebagoes  and  Pottawotomies 
between  the  bay  and  Winnebago  Lake,  Sacs  on 
F'ox  Kiver,  and  Mascoutins,  Kickapoos,  and 
Miamis.  Fox  River,  which  they  followed  from 
the  head  of  the  bay,  and  of  which  the  lake 
seemed  only  an  expansion,  was  a  rocky  stream. 
A  later  traveler  has  told  us  that  Fox  River  in 
its  further  extent  is  very  crooked,  and  while 
seeming  wide,  with  a  boundary  of  hills  on  each 
hand,  it  affords  but  a  slender  channel  in  a  marsh 
full  of  rushes  and  wild  oats. 

The  Kickapoos  and  Mascoutins  were  rude, 
coarse-featured  Indians.  Though  the  mission- 
ary exhorted  them  as  seriously  as  he  did  their 
gentler  neighbors,  he  could  not  help  remarking 


The  DiscoiJerers  of  the  Ujyper  Missi.ssij)jn.     13 

to  JoUiet  tliat  "  the  Miamis  were  better  imule, 
and  the  two  long  earlocks  which  they  wore  gave 
them  a  good  appearance." 

It  was  the  seventh  day  of  June  when  the 
explorers  arrived  in  this  country  of  cabins 
woven  of  rushes  ;  and  they  did  not  linger  here. 
Frenchmen  had  never  gone  farther.  They  were 
to  enter  new  lands  untrodden  by  the  wliite  race. 
They  were  in  what  is  now  called  the  state  of 
Wisconsin,  where  "the  soil  was  good,"  they 
noted,  "  producing  much  corn  ;  and  the  Indians 
gathered  also  quantities  of  plums  and  grapes."  In 
these  warmer  lands  the  season  progressed  rapidly. 

Marquette  and  JoUiet  called  the  chiefs  together 
and  told  them  that  Jolliet  was  sent  by  the  gov- 
ernor to  find  new  countries,  and  Marquette  had 
been  commissioned  of  Heaven  to  preach.  Mak- 
irg  the  chiefs  a  present,  without  which  they 
would  not  have  received  the  talk  seriously,  the 
explorers  asked  for  guides  to  that  tributary 
whicli  was  said  to  run  into  the  great  river. 

The  chiefs  responded  with  the  gift  of  a  rush 
mat  for  Marquette  and  Jolliet  to  rest  on  during 
their  journey,  and  sent  two  young  Miamis  with 
them.  If  these  kindly  Indians  disliked  to  set 
the  expedition  further  on  its  way,  they  said 
nothing  but  very  polite  things  about  the  hardi- 


14  Heroes  of  the  Middle  West. 

hood  of  Frenchmen,  who  couhl  venture  with 
only  two  canoes,  and  seven  in  their  party,  on 
unknown  worlds. 

The  young  Miamis,  in  a  boat  of  their  own, 
led  out  the  pro(!ession  the  tenth  morning  of 
June.  Taking  up  paddles,  the  voyageurs  looked 
back  at  an  assembled  multitude  —  perhaps  tlie 
last  kindly  natives  on  their  perilous  way  —  and 
at  the  knoll  in  the  midst  of  prairies  where  hos- 
pitable rush  houses  stood  and  would  stand  until 
the  inmates  took  them  down  and  rolled  them 
up  to  carry  to  hunting  grounds,  and  at  groves 
dotting  those  pleasant  prairies  where  guests  were 
abundantly  fed. 

Three  leagues  up  the  marshy  and  oats-choked 
Fox  River,  constantly  widening  to  little  lakes 
and  receding  to  a  throat  of  a  channel,  brought 
the  explorers  to  the  portage,  or  carrying  place. 
The  canoes  then  had  to  be  unloaded,  and  both 
cargo  and  boats  carried  overland  to  a  bend  of 
the  Miscousing,  which  was  the  Indian  name  for 
Wisconsin  River.  "  This  portage,"  says  a  trav- 
eler who  afterwards  followed  that  way,  "  is  half 
a  league  in  length,  and  half  of  that  is  a  kind  of 
marsh  full  of  mud."  In  wet  seasons  the  head 
of  Fox  River  at  that  time  seemed  not  unlikely 
to  find  the  Wisconsin,  for  Marquette  has  set 


Tlie  Discoverers  of  the  Upper  Jlississljtpi     15 

it  down  ill  liis  recital  that  the  portage  was  only 
twenty-seven  hundred  paces. 

When  the  two  Miamis  had  helped  to  carry 
the  goods  and  had  set  the  French  on  tlie  tribu- 
tary of  the  great  river,  they  turned  back  to  their 
own  country.  Before  the  men  entered  the  boats 
Man^uette  knelt  down  with  them  on  the  bank 
and  prayed  for  the  success  of  the  undertaking. 
It  was  a  lovely  broad  river  on  which  they  now 
embarked,  with  shining  sands  showing  through 
the  clear  water,  making  shallows  like  tumbling 
discs  of  brilliant  metal,  —  a  river  in  which  the 
canoes  might  sometimes  run  aground,  but  one 
that  deceived  the  eye  pleasantly,  with  islands  all 
vine  covered,  so  when  a  boat  clove  a  way  between 
two  it  was  a  guess  how  far  the  Wisconsin  spread 
away  on  each  side  to  shores  of  a  fertile  land. 
Oaks,  walnuts,  white  wood,  and  thorn  trees 
crowded  the  banks  or  fell  apart,  showing  prai- 
ries rolling  to  wooded  hills.  Deer  were  sur- 
prised, stretching  their  delicate  necks  down  to 
drink  at  the  margin.  They  looked  up  with  shy 
large  eyes  at  such  strange  objects  moving  on 
their  stream,  and  shot  oft  through  the  brush 
like  red-brown  arrows  tipped  with  white.  The 
moose  planted  its  forefeet  and  stared  stolidly, 
its  broad  horns  set  in  defend 


"^). 


IG  Heroes  of  the  Middle  West, 


«  d: 


Siuiir  »Iolliet,'\sai(l  tlic  missionary, oncuwhuu 
tlio  canoes  drew  together,  "  we  have  now  k;ft 
tlio  waters  which  ih)w  into  the  great  hikes  and 
are  discliargcd  through  tlie  St.  Lawrence  past 
Quehec  to  the  sea.  We  foUow  those  that  lead 
us  into  strange  hinds." 

"This  river  Miscousing  on  whicli  we  now 
are,"  returned  JoUiet,  "  Hows,  as  we  see  hy  our 
compass,  to  the  southwestward.  We  know  it 
is  a  branch  of  the  great  river.  I  am  becoming 
convinced,  Father,  that  the  great  river  cannot 
discharge  itself  toward  tlie  east,  as  some  have 
supposed." 

The  explorers  estimated  the  distance  from  the 
country  of  the  Mascoutins  to  the  portage  to 
be  three  leagues,  and  from,  the  portage  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Miscousing  forty  leagues.  This 
distance  they  covered  in  a  week.  Drawing  their 
canoes  to  the  shore  at  night,  they  pitched  camp, 
varying  the  monotony  of  their  stores  with  fish 
and  game.  Perhaps  they  had  learned  that  wild 
grapes  then  budding  were  not  really  fit  to  eat 
until  touched  by  frost.  Pierre  Porteret  said  in 
Marquette's  hearing,  "  the  Indians  could  make 
good  wine  of  grapes  and  plums  if  they  desired." 

The  17th  of  June,  exactly  one  month  from 
the  day  on  which  they  had  left  St.  Ignace  mis- 


The   IHsrnrftn'i'fi  of  the  l^jtpcr  Mis.slssijt/tl.     17 

sioi),  ihii  ox[)l()iui's  [Kuldled  into  a  gentle  eluur 
river,  larger  than  the  Miscousiiig  bnt  not  yet 
monstrous  in  width,  whieli  ran  southward. 
High  hills  guarded  tlie  right-hand  shore,  and 
the  left  s[)read  away  in  fair  meadows.  Its  cur- 
rent was  l)r()ken  with  many  little  islands,  like 
the  Miseousing,  thougli  on  sounding,  Jolliet 
found  the  water  to  be  ten  fathoms,  or  sixty  feet, 
deep.  The  shores  receding,  and  then  drawing 
in,  gave  unecjual  and  irregular  width  to  the 
stream.  But  it  was  unmistakably  the  great 
river  they  had  sought,  named  then  as  now 
by  the  Indians,  Mississippi,  though  Marquette 
at  once  christened  it  Conception,  and  another 
Fienchman  who  came  after  him  gave  it  the 
name  of  Colbert.  It  was  the  river  of  which 
Nicollet  had  brought  hints  from  his  wanderings 
among  northwestern  tribes  :  the  great  artery 
of  the  middle  continent,  or,  as  that  party  of 
explorers  believed,  of  tiie  entire  west.  Receiv- 
ing into  itself  tributaries,  it  rolled,  draining  a 
mighty  basin,  to  unknown  seas. 

The  first  white  men  ventured  forth  upon  its 
upper  channel  in  two  birch  canoes.  Five  hardy 
voices  raised  a  shout  which  was  thrown  back  in 
an  echo  from  the  hills  ;  five  caps  were  whirled 
as  high  as  paddles  could  raise  them.     But  Mar- 


18  Heroes  of  the  Middle  West. 

quette  said,  "This  is  such  joy  as  we  cannot 
express  !  "  The  men  in  both  canoes  silenced 
themselves  while  he  gave  thanks  for  the  dis- 
covery. 


FATHER    JACQUES    MARQUETTE. 
I-'roin  :i  Statiii;  in  flie  C'lipitol  ut  Wa>liini;ton. 


II. 

BEARERS  OF  THE  CALUMET. 

Moving  down  the  Mississippi,  league  after 
league,  the  explorers  noted  first  of  all  its  soli- 
tude. Wigwam  smoke  could  not  be  seen  on 
either  shore.  Silence,  save  the  breathing  of 
the  river  as  it  rolled  on  its  course,  seemed  to 
surround  and  threaten  them  with  ambush. 
Still,  day  after  day,  the  sweet  and  awful  pres- 
ence of  the  wilderness  was  their  only  company. 
Once  Pierre  Porteret  dropped  his  paddle  with  a 
yell  which  was  tossed  about  by  echoing  islands. 
A  thing  with  a  tiger's  forehead  and  a  wildcat's 
whiskered  snout,  holding  ears  and  entire  gray 
and  black  head  above  the  water,  swam  for  the 
boat.  But  it  dived  and  disappeared  ;  and  the 
other  voyageurs  felt  safe  in  laughing  at  him. 
Not  long  after,  Jacques  bellowed  aloud  as  he 
saw  a  living  tree  glide  under  the  canoe,  jarring 
it  from  end  to  end.  The  voyageurs  soon  learned 
to  know  the  huge  sluggish  catfish.  They  also 
caught  plenty  of  sturgeon  or  shovel  fish  when 

the}'  cast  in  their  nets. 

19 


20  Heroes  of  the  Middle  West. 

The  river  descended  from  its  hilly  cradle  to 
a  country  of  level  distances.  The  explorers, 
seeing  nothing  of  men,  gave  more  attention 
to  birds  and  animals.  Wild  turkeys  with  bur- 
nished necks  and  breasts  tempted  the  hunters. 
The  stag  uttered  far  off  his  whistling  call  of 
defiance  to  other  stags.  And  they  began  to  see 
a  shaggy  ox,  humped,  with  an  enormous  head 
and  short  black  horns,  and  a  mane  hanging  over 
low-set  wicked  eyes.  Its  body  was  covered  with 
curly  rough  hair.  They  learned  afterwards  from 
Indians  to  call  these  savage  cattle  pisikious, 
or  buffaloes.  Herds  of  many  hundreds  grazed 
together,  or,  startled,  galloped  away,  like  thun- 
der rolling  along  the  ground. 

The  explorers  kindled  wqyj  little  fire  on  shore 
to  cook  their  meals,  and  they  no  longer  made  a 
camp,  but  after  eating,  pushed  out  and  anchored, 
sleeping  in  their  canoes.  Every  night  a  senti- 
nel was  set  to  guard  against  surprise.  By  the 
25th  of  June  they  had  passed  through  sixty 
leagues  of  solitude.  The  whole  American  con- 
tinent was  thinly  settled  by  native  tribes,  many 
in  name  indeed,  but  of  scant  numbers.  The 
most  dreaded  savages  in  the  New  World  were 
the  Iroquois  or  Five  Nations,  living  south  of 
Lake  Ontario.     Yet  they  were  never  able  to 


Bearers  of  tlie   CaLuiuet.  21 

muster  more  than  about  twenty-two  hundrcil 
fighting  men. 

The  canoes  were  skirting  the  western  bank, 
driven  by  the  current,  when  one  voyageur 
called  to  another : 

"  My  scalp  for  the  sight  of  an  Indian  !  " 

"  Halt  I "  the  forward  paddler  answered. 
"  Look  to  thy  scalp,  lad,  for  here  is  the  Indian  I" 

There  was  no  feathered  head  in  ambush,  but 
they  saw  moccasin  prints  in  the  low  moist  mar- 
gin and  a  path  leading  up  to  the  prairie. 

Marquette  and  Jolliet  held  the  boats  together 
while  they  consulted. 

"  Do  you  think  it  wise  to  pass  by  without 
searching  what  this  may  mean.  Father?  " 

"  No,  I  do  not.  We  might  thus  leave  enemies 
behind  our  backs  to  cut  off  our  return.  Some 
Indian  village  is  near.  It  would  be  my  counsel 
to  approach  and  offer  friendship." 

"Shall  we  take  the  men?"  debated  Jolliet. 
"  Two  of  them  at  least  should  stay  to  guard  the 
canoes." 

"  Let  them  all  stay  to  guard  the  canoes.  If 
we  go  unarmed  and  unattended,  we  shall  not 
raise  suspicion  in  the  savages'  minds." 

"  But  we  may  raise  suspicion  in  our  own 
minds." 


22  Heroes  of  the  Middle  West, 

Marquette  laughed. 

"  The  barbarous  people  on  this  unexplored 
river  have  us  at  their  mercy,"  he  declared. 
"  We  can  at  best  do  little  to  defend  our- 
selves." 

"  Let  us  reconnoitre,"  said  Jolliet. 

Taking  some  of  the  goods  which  they  had 
brought  along  for  presents,  Jolliet  bade  the  men 
wait  their  return  and  climbed  the  bank  with 
the  missionary.  The  path  led  through  prairie 
grass,  gay  at  that  season  with  flowers.  The 
delicate  buttercup-like  sensitive  plant  shrank 
from  their  feet  in  wet  places.  Neither  French- 
man had  yet  seen  the  deadly  rattlesnake  of 
these  southern  countries,  singing  as  a  great  fly 
might  sing  in  a  web,  dart  out  of  its  spotted 
spiral  to  fasten  a  death  bite  upon  a  victim. 
They  walked  in  silence,  dreading  only  the 
human  beings  they  were  going  to  meet.  When 
they  had  gone  about  two  leagues,  the  path  drew 
near  the  wooded  bank  of  a  little  stream  drain- 
ing into  the  Mississippi  which  they  had  scarcely 
noticed  from  the  canoes.  There  they  saw  an 
Indian  village,  and  farther  off,  up  a  hill,  more 
groups  of  wigwams.  They  heard  the  voices  of 
children,  and  nobody  suspected  their  approach. 

Jolliet  and  Marquette  halted.     Not  knowing 


JJearers  of  the   Calumet.  23 

how  else  toaniiounce  their  presence,  tliey  shouted 
together  as  loud  as  they  could  shout.  The  sav- 
ages ran  out  of  their  wigwams  and  darted  about 
in  confusion  until  they  saw  the  two  motionless 
white  men.  The  long  black  cassock  of  Mar- 
quette had  instant  effect  upon  them.  For  their 
trinkets  and  a  few  garments  on  their  bodies 
showed  that  they  had  trafficked  with  Euro- 
peans. 

Four  old  Indians,  slowly  and  with  ceremony, 
came  out  to  meet  the  explorers,  holding  up 
curious  pipes  trimmed  with  many  kinds  of 
feathers.  As  soon  as  they  drew  near,  Mar- 
quette called  out  to  them  in  Algonquin  : 

"  What  tribe  is  this  ?  " 

"  The  Illinois,"  answered  the  old  man.  Being 
a  branch  of  the  great  Algonquin  family,  which 
embraced  nearly  all  northern  aboriginal  nations, 
with  the  notable  exception  of  the  Iroquois,  these 
people  had  a  dialect  which  the  missionary  could 
understand.  The  name  Illinois  meant  "  The 
Men." 

Marquette  and  Jolliet  were  led  to  the  prin- 
cipal lodge.  Outside  the  door,  waiting  for 
them,  stood  another  old  Indian  like  a  statue 
of  wrinkled  bronze.  For  he  had  stripped  him- 
self to  do  honor  to  the   occasion,  and  held  up 


24 


Heroes  of  the  Middle  Went. 


liis  hiinds  to  screen  his  fiicu  fioiu  the  siui,  mak- 
ing gnieei'ul  and  (hgnilied  gestures  as  he  greeted 
the  strangers. 

"  How  bright  is  the  sun  when  you  come  to 
see  us,  O  Frenchmen  !  Our  h3dgesare  ail  open 
to  you." 

The  visitors  were  then  seated  in  the  wigwam, 
and  the  pipe,  or  calumet,  offered  them  to  smokt;, 
all  the  Indians  crowding  around  and  saying  : 


11^^ 


Calumet. 


"  Vou  do  well  to  visit  us,  brothers." 

Obliged  to  observe  this  peace  ceremony,  Mar- 
quette put  the  pipe  to  his  lips,  but  Jolliet,  used 
to  ihe  tobacco  weed,  puffed  with  a  good  will. 

The  entire  village  then  formed  a  straggling 
procession,  gazing  at  the  Frenchmen,  whom 
they  guided  farther  to  the  chief's  town.  He 
also  met  them  standing  with  a  naked  retinue  at 
his  door,  and  the  calumet  was  again  smoked. 

The  Illinois  lodges  were  shaped  like  the 
rounded  cover  of  an  emigrant  wagon,  high, 
and  very  long,  having  an  opening  left  along 


Bearers  of  the   Culumet,  25 

the  top  for  the  escape  of  smoke.  They  were 
made  of  rush  mats,  vvhicli  tlie  women  wove, 
overhipped  as  shingles  on  a  framework  of 
poles.  Rush  mats  also  carpeted  the  ground, 
except  where  tires  burned  in  a  row  along  the 
middle.  Each  fire  was  used  by  two  families 
who  lived  opposite,  in  stalls  made  of  blankets. 
The  ends  of  the  lodge  had  flaps  to  shut  out  the 
weather,  but  these  were  left  wide  open  to  the 
summer  sun.  During  visits  of  ceremony  a  guest 
stood  where  he  could  be  seen  and  heard  by  all 
who  could  crowd  into  the  wigwam.  Hut  when 
the  Illinois  held  important  councils  they  made 
a  circular  inclosure,  and  built  a  camp-fire  in  the 
center.  Many  families  and  many  fires  filled  a 
long  wigwam,  though  Jolliet  and  Marquette 
were  lodged  with  the  chief,  who  hud  one  for 
himself  and  his  household. 

Whitening  embers  were  sending  threads  of 
smoke  towards  a  strip  of  blue  sky  overhead 
when  the  missionary  stood  up  to  explain  his 
errand  in  the  crowded  inclosure,  dividing  his 
talk  into  four  parts  with  presents.  By  the  first 
gift  of  cloth  and  beads  he  told  his  listeners  that 
the  Frenchmen  were  voyaging  in  peace  to  visit 
nations  on  the  river.     By  the  second  he  said  : 

"  I  declare  to  you  that  God,  your  Creator,  has 


26  Heroes  of  the  Middle  West. 

pity  on  you,  since,  when  you  liiive  been  so  long 
ignorant  of  liini,  lie  wishes  to  become  known  to 
you.  I  am  sent  on  his  behalf  with  this  design. 
It  is  for  you  to  acknowledge  luid  obey  him." 

By  the  third  gift  they  were  informed  that  the 
chief  of  tlie  French  had  spread  peace  and  over- 
come the  Iroquois.  And  the  last  begged  for 
all  the  information  they  could  give  about  the 
sea  and  intervening  nations. 

When  Marquette  sat  down,  the  chief  stood 
up  and  laid  his  hand  on  the  head  of  a  little 
slave,  prisoner  from  another  tribe. 

"  I  thank  you,  Blackgown,"  he  said,  "  and 
you.  Frenchman,  for  taking  so  much  pains  to 
come  and  visit  us.  The  earth  has  never  been 
so  beautiful,  nor  the  sun  so  bright,  as  to-day  ; 
never  has  the  river  been  so  calm  and  free  from 
rocks,  which  your  canoes  removed  as  they  passed! 
Never  has  our  tobacco  had  so  fine  a  flavor,  nor 
our  corn  appeared  so  beautiful  as  we  find  it 
to-day.  Here  is  my  son.  I  give  him  to  you 
that  you  may  know  my  heart.  Take  pitj'^  on 
us  and  all  our  nation.  You  know  the  Great 
Spirit  who  made  all :  you  speak  to  him  and 
hear  him  ;  ask  him  to  give  us  life  and  health 
and  come  and  dwell  with  us." 

When  the  chief  had  presented  his  guests  with 


Bearers  of  the   Calumet.  27 

the  IiuUaii  boy,  and  again  ollerud  the  ealnniet, 
ho  urged  them,  with  belts  and  garters  of 
buffalo  wool,  brilliantly  dyed,  to  go  no  farther 
down  the  great  river,  on  account  of  dangers. 
These  compliments  being  ended,  a  feast  was 
brought  in  four  courses.  First  came  a  wooden 
dish  of  sagamity  or  corn-meal  boiled  in  Avater 
and  grease.  The  chief  took  a  buffalo-horn 
spoon  and  fed  his  guests  as  if  they  had  been 
little  children  :  three  or  four  s2)oonfuls  he  put 
in  Marquette's  mouth  and  three  or  four  spoon- 
fuls in  Jolliet's.  Three  fish  were  brought  next, 
and  he  picked  out  the  bones  with  his  own  fin- 
gers, blew  on  the  food  to  cool  it,  and  stuffed 
the  explorers  with  all  he  could  make  them 
accept.  It  was  their  part  to  open  their  mouths 
as  young  birds  do.  The  third  course  was  that 
most  delicate  of  Indian  dishes,  a  fine  dog  ;  but 
seeing  that  his  guests  shrank  from  this,  the 
chief  ended  the  meal  with  buffalo  meat,  giv- 
ing them  the  fattest  parts. 

The  Illinois  were  at  that  time  on  the  west 
side  of  the  Mississippi,  because  they  had  been 
driven  from  their  own  country  on  the  Illinois 
River  by  the  Iroquois.  The  Illinois  nation  was 
made  up  of  several  united  tribes  :  Kaskaskias, 
Peorias,    Kahokias,    Tamaroas,  and  Moingona. 


28  Jlcrues  of  the  MiddU',  W'ttst, 

P'li^lit  sujilturod  tlicMn,  and  tlicsi;  wimo  only  Ji 
tViw  of  thuir  villii<,'L'S.  They  jifturwanls  rotuniud 
to  tliuir  own  land.  Their  cliief  wore  a  sc^arf  or 
belt  of  till'  ci'osHing  his  left  shoulder,  eiieircling 
his  waist  and  han<ring  in  fringe.  Arm  and  leg 
hands  ornamented  him,  and  he  also  had  knee 
rattles  of  deer  hoofs.  Paint  nuide  of  colored 
clays  streakv^d  liis  face.  This  attractive  creature 
sent  the  Indian  (;rier  ai'ound,  heating  a  drum  of 
deer  hide  stretched  over  a  pot,  to  proclaim  the 
calumet  dance  in  honor  of  the  exph)rers. 

Mar(iuette  and  Jolliet  were  led  out  in  the 
prairie  to  a  small  grove  which  sheltered  the 
assembly  from  the  afternoon  sun.  Even  the 
women  left  their  maize  fields  and  the  beans, 
melons,  and  sipiaslies  that  tliey  were  cultivating, 
and  old  sipiaws  dropped  rush  braiding,  and  with 
pa[)ooses  swarming  about  their  knees,  followed. 
The  Illinois  were  nimble,  well-formed  people, 
skillful  with  bow  and  arrovv.  They  had,  more- 
over, some  guns  among  them,  obtained  from 
allies  who  had  roved  and  traded  witli  the 
French.  Young  braves  imitated  the  gravity  of 
their  elders  at  this  important  ceremony.  The 
Illinois  never  ate  new  fruits  or  bathed  at  the 
beginning  of  summer,  without  first  dancing  the 
calumet. 


Benren  of  the  Calumet.  20 

A  lingo  gay  iiiiit  of  rushes  was  spread  in  tlie 
center  of  the  fjrove,  and  the  warrior  selected  to 
dance  put  liis  god,  or  maiiitou — soim^  tiny 
earven  image  which  he  carried  around  his  per- 
son and  to  which  he  prayed  —  on  the  mat 
beside  a  beautiful  calumet.  Around  them  lu; 
spread  his  bow  and  arrows,  his  war  club,  and 


Will-  Club. 


stone  hat(;liet.  The  pij)e  was  made  of  led  rock 
like  brilliantly  polished  marble,  hollowed  to 
hold  tobacco.  A  stick  two  feet  long,  as  thick 
as  a  cane,  formed  the  stem.  For  the  dance 
these  pipes  were  often  decked  witli  gorgeous 
scarlet,  green,  and  iridescent  featliers,  though 
white  plumes  alone  made  them  the  symbol  of 
peace,  and  red  quills  bristled  over  them  for 
war. 

Young  squaws  and  braves  who  were  to  sing, 
s,  down  on  the  ground  in  a  group  near  tlie 
ma  .  ;  but  the  multitude  spread  in  a  great  circle 
around  it.  Men  of  im})ortance  before  taking 
tlieir  seats  on  the  short  grass,  each  in  turn  lifted 
the  calumet,  which  was  filled,  and  blew  a  little 


30  Heroes  of  the  Middle  West 

smoke  on  the  manitou.  Then  the  dancer  sprang 
out,  and,  with  graceful  curvings  in  time  to  the 
music,  seized  the  pipe  and  offered  it  now  to  the 
sun  and  now  to  the  earth,  made  it  dance  from 
mouth  to  mouth  along  the  Unes  of  spectators, 
with  all  its  fluttering  plumes  spread.  The  hazy 
sun  shone  slanting  among  branches,  tracing  a 
network  of  flickering  leaf  shadows  on  short 
grass  ;  and  liquid  young  voices  rising  and  fall- 
ing chanted, 

« 

"Nanahani,  nanahani,  nanahani, 
Naniango  !  " 

The  singers  were  joined  by  the  Indian  drum  ; 
and   at    that   another    dancer   sprang  into  the 


ll^t'^""'^''"""'""""- '■" mil mil 

Stone  Hatchet. 


circle  and  took  the  weapons  from  the  mat  to 
fight  with  the  principal  dancer,  who  had  no 
defense  but  the  calumet.  With  measured  steps 
and  a  floating  motion  of  the  body  the  two  ad- 
vanced and  attacked,  parried  and  retreated, 
until  the  man  with  the  pipe  drove  his  enemy 
from  the  ring.  Papooses  of  a  dark  brick-red 
color  watched  with  glistening  black  eyes  the 


Bearers  of  the  Calumet.  31 

last  part  of  the  dance,  which  celebrated  victory. 
The  names  of  nations  fought,  the  prisoners 
taken,  and  all  the  trophies  brought  home  were 
paraded  by  means  of  the  calumet. 

The  chief  presented  the  dancer  with  a  fine 
fur  robe  when  he  ended ;  and,  taking  the  calu- 
met from  his  hand,  gave  it  to  an  old  man  in  the 
circle.  This  one  passed  it  to  the  next,  and  so 
it  went  around  the  huge  ring  until  all  had  held 
it.     Then  the  chief  approached  the  white  men. 

"  Blackgown,"  he  said,  "  and  you.  French- 
man, I  give  you  this  peace-pipe  to  be  your  safe- 
guard wherever  you  go  among  the  tribes.  It 
shall  be  feathered  with  white  plumes,  and  dis- 
playing it  you  may  march  fearlessly  among 
enemies.  It  has  power  of  life  and  death,  and 
honor  is  paid  to  it  as  to  a  manitou.  Black- 
gown,  I  give  you  this  calumet  in  token  of  peace 
between  your  governor  and  the  Illinois,  and  to 
remind  you  of  your  promise  to  come  again  and 
instruct  us  in  your  religion." 

The  explorers  slept  soundly  all  night  in  the 
chief's  lodge,  feeling  as  safe  as  among  Christian 
Indians  of  the  north,  who  stuck  thorns  in  a 
calendar  to  mark  Sundays  and  holydays.  Next 
morning  the  chief  went  with  several  hundred 
of  his  people  to  escort  them  to  their  canoes; 


32  Heroes  of  the  Middle  West. 

but  it  was  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  before 
the  voyageurs,  dropping  down  stream,  saw  the 
last  of  the  friendly  tribe. 

Day  after  day  the  boats  moved  on  without 
meeting  other  inhabitants.  Mulberries,  per- 
simmons, and  hazelnuts  were  found  on  the 
sliores.  They  passed  the  mouth  of  the  Illinois 
River  without  knowing  its  name,  or  that  it 
flowed  through  lands  owned  by  the  tribe  that 
had  given  them  the  peace-pipe.  Farther  on, 
the  Mississippi  made  one  of  its  many  bends, 
carrying  them  awhile  directly  eastward,  and 
below  great  rocks  like  castles.  As  the  canoes 
ran  along  the  foot  of  this  east  shore,  some  of 
the  voyageurs  cried  out.  F'or  on  the  face  of  the 
cliff  far  up  were  two  painted  monsters  in  glaring 
red,  green,  and  black;  each  as  large  as  a  calf, 
with  deer  horns,  blood-colored  eyes,  tiger  beard, 
a  human  face,  and  a  body  covered  with  scales. 
Coiled  twice  around  the  middle,  over  the  head, 
and  passing  between  the  hind  legs  of  each, 
extended  a  tail  that  ended  like  a  fish.  So 
startling  was  this  sight,  which  seemed  a  banner 
held  aloft  heralding  unseen  dangers,  that  the 
men  felt  threatened  by  a  demon.  But  Mar- 
quette laughed  at  them  and  beckoned  for  the 
canoes  to  be  brought  together. 


liddrerii  of  the   Calumet.  33 

"  What  manner  of  thing  is  this,  Sieur 
Jolliet?" 

''A  pair  of  manitous,  evidently.  If  we  had 
Ii:  ians  with  us,  we  shoiikl  see  them  toss  a  little 
tobacco  out  as  an  offering  in  passing  by." 

"  I  cannot  think,"  said  Marquette,  "  that  any 
Indian  has  been  the  designer.  Good  painters 
in  France  would  find  it  hard  to  do  as  well. 
Besides  this,  the  creatures  are  so  high  upon  the 
rock  that  it  was  hard  to  get  conveniently  at 
them  to  paint  them.  And  how  could  such 
colors  be  mixeti  in  this  wilderness  ? " 

"  We  have  seen  what  pigments  and  clays  the 
Illinois  used  in  daubing  themselves.  These 
wild  tribes  may  have  among  them  men  with 
natural  skill  in  delineating,"  said  Jolliet. 

"I  will  draw  them  off,"  Marquette  deter- 
mined, bringing  out  the  papers  on  which  he 
set  down  his  notes;  and  while  the  men  stuck 
their  paddles  in  the  water  to  hold  the  canoes 
against  the  current,  he  made  his  drawing. 

One  of  the  monsters  seen  by  the  explorers 
remained  on  those  rocks  until  the  middle  of 
our  own  century.  It  was  called  by  the  Indians 
the  Piasa.  More  than  two  centuries  of  beating 
winter  storms  had  not  effaced  the  brilliant 
picture  when  it  was  quarried  away  by  a  stupidly 


34  Heroes  of  the  Middle  [Vest. 

barbarous  civilization.  The  town  of  Alton,  in 
the  state  of  Illinois,  is  a  little  south  of  that  rock 
where  the  Piasa  dragons  were  seen. 

As  the  explorers  moved  ahead  on  glassy 
waters,  they  looked  back,  and  the  line  of  vision 
changing,  they  saw  that  the  figures  were  cut 
into  the  cliff  and  painted  in  hollow  relief. 

They  were  still  talking  about  the  monsters 
when  they  heard  the  roar  of  a  rapid  ahead,  and 
the  limpid  Mississippi  turned  southward  on  its 
course.  It  was  as  if  they  had  never  seen  the 
great  river  until  this  instant.  For  a  mighty 
flood,  rushing  through  banks  from  the  west, 
yellow  with  mud,  noisy  as  a  storm,  eddying 
islands  of  branches,  stumps,  whole  trees,  took 
possession  of  the  fair  stream  they  had  followed 
so  long.  It  shot  across  the  current  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi in  entering  so  that  the  canoes  danced 
like  eggshells  and  were  dangerously  forced  to 
the  eastern  bank.  Afterwards  they  learned 
that  this  was  the  Pekitanoiii,  or,  as  we  now 
call  it,  the  Missouri  ]{iver,  which  flows  into  the 
Mississippi  not  far  above  the  present  city  of  St. 
Louis ;  and  that  by  following  it  to  its  head 
water's  and  making  a  short  portage  across  a 
prairie,  a  man  might  in  time  enter  the  Red  or 
Vermilion  Sea  of  California. 


Bearers  of  the   Cdlumet.  35 

Having  slipped  out  of  the  Missouri's  reach, 
the  explorers  were  next  threatened  by  a  whirl- 
pool among  rocks  before  they  reached  the  mouth 
of  Ouaboukigou,  the  Ohio  River.  They  saw 
purple,  red,  and  violet  earths,  which  ran  down 
in  streams  of  color  when  wet,  and  a  sand  which 
stained  their  paddles  like  blood.  Tall  canes 
began  to  feather  the  shore,  and  mosquitoes 
tormented  them  as  they  pressed  on  through 
languors  of  heat.  JoUiet  and  Marquette  made 
awnings  of  sails  which  they  had  brought  as  a 
help  to  the  paddles.  They  were  floating  down 
the  current  of  the  muddy,  swollen  river  when 
they  saw  Indians  with  guns  on  the  east  shore. 
The  voyageurs  dropped  their  paddles  and  seized 
their  own  weapons.  Marquette  stood  up  and 
spoke  to  the  Indians  in  Huron.  They  made  no 
answer.  He  held  up  the  white  calumet.  Then 
they  began  to  beckon,  and  when  the  party  drew 
to  land,  they  made  it  clear  that  they  had  them- 
selves been  frightened  until  they  saw  the  Black- 
robe  holding  the  calumet..  A  long-haired  tribe, 
somewhat  resembling  the  Iroquois,  but  calling 
themselves  Tuscaronis ;  they  were  rovers,  and 
had  axes,  hoes,  knives,  beads,  and  double  glass 
bottles  holding  gunpowder,  for  which  they  had 
traded  with  white  people  eastward. 


3() 


Heroes  of  the  Middle  West. 


Tliey  fi^l  tlie  French  with  Imffah)  meat  and 
white  plums,  and  dechired  it  was  hnt  a  ten 
days'  journey  to  the  sea.  In  this  they  were  mis- 
taken, for  it  was  more  than  a  thousand  miles 
to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 

To  each  tribe  as  lie  passed,  jVIarquette  preached 
his  faith  by  the  belt  of  the  prayer.     For  each 


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W^ainpiun  CSirdle. 

he  had  a  wampum  girdle  to  liold  while  he  talked, 
and  to  leave  for  a  remembrance.  His  words 
without  a  witness  would  be  forgotten. 

Three  hundred  miles  farther  the  explorers 
ventured,  and  had  nearly  reached  the  mouth  of 
the  Arkansas  River,  floating  on  a  wide  expanse 
of  water  between  lofty  woods,  when  they  heard 
wild  yelling  on  the  west  shore,  and  saw  a  crowed 
of  savages  pushing  out  Imge  wooden  canoes  to 
surround  them.  Some  swam  to  seize  the  French- 
men, and  a  war  club  was  thrown  over  their 
heads.  Marquette  held  up  the  peace-pipe,  but 
the  wild    young    braves  in  the  water  paid  no 


Hearers  of  the   Calumet.  37 

attention  to  it.  Arrows  wore  ready  to  fly  from 
all  sides,  and  Marcjuette  lield  the  peaee-pipe 
on  liigli  and  eontinually  prayed.  At  once  old 
Indians  restrained  the  yonng  ones.  In  their 
turmoil  they  had  not  at  lirst  seen  tlie  calumet ; 
but  two  chiefs  came  directly  out  to  bring  the 
strangta's  ashoi'e. 

Not  one  of  the  missionary's  six  languages  was 
understood  by  these  Indians.  He  at  last  found 
a  man  who  spoke  a  little  Illinois,  and  Jolliet 
and  he  were  able  to  explain  their  errand.  He 
preached  by  presents,  and  obtained  a  guide  to 
the  next  nation. 

On  that  part  of  the  river  where  the  F.'3nch 
came  to  a  halt,  the  Spanish  explorer  De  Soto 
was  said  to  have  died  two  hundred  years  before. 
In  this  region  the  Indians  had  never  seen  snow, 
and  their  land  yielded  three  crops  a  year.  Their 
pots  and  plates  were  of  baked  earth,  and  they 
kept  corn  in  huge  gourds,  or  in  baskets  wo  .w 
of  cane  fibers.  They  knew  nothing  of  beaver 
skins;  their  furs  were  the  hides  of  buffaloes. 
Watermelons  grew  abundantly  in  their  fields. 
Though  they  had  large  wigwams  of  bark,  they 
wore  no  clothing,  and  hung  beads  from  their 
pierced  noses  and  ears. 

These  Akamsea,  or  Arkansas  Indians  showed 


38  Heroes  of  the  Middle  West. 

traits  of  the  AztucH  under  Spanish  doniiuion ; 
for  wluit  is  now  the  state  of  Texas  was  then 
chiimed  by  Spain.  Marquette  and  Jolliet  heid 
a  eouneil.  They  were  certain  tliat  the  great 
river  discharged  itself  hito  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 
If  they  ventured  farther,  they  might  fall  into 
the  hands  of  Spaniards,  who  would  imprison 
them  ;  or  they  might  be  killed  by  fiercer  tribes 
than  any  yet  encountered,  and  in  either  cjise 
their  discoveries  would  be  lost.  So  they  decided 
to  turn  back. 

All  day  the  Arkansas  feasted  them  with 
merciless  savage  hospitality,  and  it  was  not 
polite  to  refuse  food  or  the  attention  of  rock- 
ing. Two  stout  Indians  would  seize  a  voyageur 
between  them  and  rock  him  back  and  forth  for 
hours.  If  the  motion  nauseated  him,  that  was 
his  misfortune. 

Pierre  Porteret  crept  out  behind  one  of  the 
bark  lodges  looking  very  miserable  in  the  fog  of 
early  morning.  His  companion  on  many  a  long 
journey,  never  far  out  of  his  shadow,  sat  down 
to  compare  experiences. 

"  Did  they  rock  thee  all  night,  Pierre  ?  " 

"  They  rocked  me  all  night,  Jacques.  I  can 
well  endure  what  most  men  can,  but  this  is 
carrying  politeness  too  far." 


Jieari'r,^  of  the   CuJvmet.  'i9 

"  I  was  not  so  favored.  Thev  would  have 
saved  you  if  tliey  had  killed  tlic  rest  of  us. 
And  they  would  have  saved  the  good  father, 
no  doubt,  since  the  chief  came  and  ilanced  the 
calumet  before  him." 

"  Were  these  red  cradle-roc kei's  intending  to 
make  an  end  of  us  in  the  night?" 

"  So  the  chief  says  ;  but  he  broke  up  the 
council,  and  will  set  us  safely  on  our  journey 
up  river  to-day." 

"  I  am  glad  of  that,"  said  Pierre.  "  Father 
Marquette  liath  not  the  strength  of  tlie  Sieur 
Jolliet  for  such  rude  wanderings.  These  south- 
ern mists,  and  torturing  insects,  and  clammy 
heats,  and  the  bad  food  have  worked  a  great 
change  in  him." 

"  We  have  been  gone  but  two  months  from 
the  Mission  of  St.  Ignace,"  said  Jacques.  "  They 
have  the  bigness  of  years." 

"  And  many  more  months  that  have  the  big- 
ness of  years  will  pass  before  we  see  it  again." 

They  grew  more  certain  of  this,  when,  after 
toiling  up  the  current  through  malarial  nights 
and  sweltering  days,  the  explorei-s  left  the  Mis- 
sissippi and  entered  the  river  Illinois.  There, 
above  Peoria  Lake,  another  Illinois  town  of 
seventy-four  lodges  was  found,  and  these  Kas- 


40  Ifcrocx  of  thr    M'i<l(llr    ll'rsf. 

kuskiiis  so  ciliuig  to  llu^  BluckrolH)  that  he 
promised  to  eoiiie  hiick  Jiiid  teach  tliein.  From 
the  liead  waters  of  the  Illinois  a  porta^'e  was 
made  to  Lake  Miehii^an,  and  the  French  returned 
to  tlie  Bay  of  tlie  Puans  ahuiosliore.  They  liad 
traveled  over  twenty-live  hundred  miles,  and 
ac^complished  the  ohject  of  their  journey. 

Jolliet,  with  his  canoe  of  voyageu"s,  his  maps 
and  papers,  and  the  young  Indian  boy  given 
liim  by  the  Illinois  chief,  went  on  to  Montreal. 
His  canoe  was  upset  in  the  rapids  of  Lachine 
just  a})ove  Montreal,  and  he  lost  two  men,  the 
Indian  boy,  his  pa})ers,  and  nearly  everything 
except  his  life.  But  he  was  able  to  report  to 
the  governor  all  that  he  had  seen  and  done. 

Marquette  lay  ill,  at  the  Bay  of  the  Puans,  of 
dysentery,  brought  on  by  hardship ;  and  he  was 
never  well  again.  Being  determined,  however, 
to  go  back  and  preach  to  the  tribe  on  the  Illinois 
River,  he  waited  all  winter  and  all  the  next  sum- 
mer to  regain  his  strength.  He  carefully  wrote 
out  and  sent  to  Canada  the  story  of  his  discov- 
eries and  labors.  In  autumn,  with  Pierre  Por- 
teret  and  the  voyageur  Jacques,  he  ventured 
again  to  the  Illinois.  Once  he  became  so  ill 
they  were  obliged  to  stop  and  build  him  a  cabin 
in  the  wilderness,  at  the  risk  of  being  snowed 


Jiedrers  of  the   Ca linnet.  \\ 

in  all  winter.  It  wsis  not  until  A[;ril  tluit  lie 
reached  what  he  called  his  Mission  of  the 
Innnaculate  Conception,  on  the  Illinois  River, 
through  snow,  and  water  and  mud,  hunger  and 
misery.  He  preached  until  after  Easter,  when, 
his  strength  being  exhausted,  Pierre  and  Jacques 
undertook  to  carry  him  home  to  the  Mission  of 
St.  Ignace.  Manjuette  had  been  two  years 
away  from  his  palisaded  station  on  the  north 
shore,  and  nine  years  in  the  New  W(>rld. 

It  was  the  iDth  of  May,  and  Picjrre  and 
Jacques  were  paddling  tlieir  canoe  along  the 
east  side  of  that  great  lake  known  now  as 
Michigan.  A  creek  parted  the  rugged  coast, 
and  dip[)ing  near  its  shallow  mouth  they  looked 
anxiously  at  each  other. 

"What  shall  we  do?"  whispered  Jacques. 

"  We  must  get  on  as  fast  as  we  can,"  answered 
Pierre. 

They  were  gaunt  and  weather-beaten  them- 
selves from  two  yeare'  tramping  the  wilderness. 
But  their  eyes  dwelt  most  piteously  on  the  dying 
man  stretched  in  the  bottom  of  the  canoe.  His 
thin  fingere  held  a  cross.  His  white  face  and 
bright  hair  rested  on  a  pile  of  blankets.  Pierre 
and  Jacques  felt  that  no  lovelier,  kinder  l^eing 
than  this  scarcely  breathing  missionary  would 


42  Heroes  of  the  Middle  West. 

ever  tloat  on  the  blue  water  under  that  blue 
sky. 

lie  opened  his  eyes  and  saw  the  creek  tliey 
were  slipping  past,  and  a  j)leasant  knoll  beside 
it,  and  whispered:  — 

"  There  is  the  place  of  my  burial." 

"But,  Father,"  pleaded  Pierre,  "it  is  yet 
early  in  the  day.     We  can  take  you  farther." 

"  Carry  me  ashore  here,"  he  whispered  again. 

So  tliey  entered  the  creek  and  took  him 
ashore,  building  a  fire  and  sheltering  him  as 
well  JUS  they  could.  There  a  few  hours  after- 
ward he  died,  the  weeping  men  holding  up  his 
cross  before  him,  while  he  thanked  the  Divine 
Majesty  for  letting  him  die  a  poor  missionary. 
When  he  could  no  longer  speak,  they  repeated 
aloud  the  prayers  he  had  taught  them. 

They  left  him  buried  on  that  shoie  with  a 
large  cross  standing  over  his  grave.  Later  his 
Indians  removed  his  bones  to  the  Mission  of  St. 
Ignace,  with  a  procession  of  canoes  and  a  priest 
intoning.  They  were  placed  under  the  altar  of 
his  own  chapel.  If  you  go  to  St.  Ignace,  you 
may  see  a  monument  now  on  that  spot,  and 
people  have  believed  they  traced  the  foundation 
of  the  old  bai'k  chapel.  But  the  spot  where  he 
first  lay  was  long  venerated. 


Bearers  of  the  Calumet.  43 

A  great  fur  trader  and  pioneer  nainedCiurdon 
Ilubhard  made  this  lecord  about  the  place,  which 
he  visited  in  1818:  — 

"  We  reached  Manjuette  River,  aljout  where 
the  town  of  Ludington  now  stands  on  the 
Michigan  shore.  This  was  wliere  Father  Mar- 
quette died,  about  one  hundred  and  forty  years 
before,  and  we  saw  the  remains  of  a  red-cedar 
cross,  erected  by  his  men  at  the  time  of  his 
death  to  mark  his  grave  ;  and  though  his  remains 
had  been  removed  to  the  Mission,  at  Point  St. 
Ignace,  the  cross  was  held  sacred  b}'"  the  voy- 
ageurs,  who,  in  passing,  paid  reverence  to  it, 
by  kneeling  and  making  the  sign  of  the  cross. 
It  was  about  three  feet  above  the  ground,  and 
in  a  falling  condition.  We  reset  it,  leaving 
it  out  of  the  ground  about  two  feet,  and  as  I 
never  saw  it  after,  I  doubt  not  that  it  was 
covered  by  the  drifting  sands  of  the  following 
winter,  and  that  no  white  man  ever  saw  it 
afterwards." 


III. 

THE  MAN  WITH  THE  COPPER  HAND. 

One  day  at  the  end  of  August,  when  Mar- 
quette's bones  had  hiin  under  liis  ehapel  altar 
nearly  two  years  and  a  half,  the  first  shij)  ever 
seen  upon  the  lakes  was  sighted  off  St. 
Igiiaee.  Ilurons  and  Ottawius,  French  traders, 
and  eoureurs  de  bois,  or  wood-rangers,  ran  out 
to  see  the  huge  winged  creature  scudding 
betwixt  Micliiliniackinae  Island  and  Round 
Island.  She  was  of  about  forty-five  tons'  bur 
den.  Five  cannon  showed  through  her  port- 
holes, and  as  she  came  nearer,  a  carved  dragon 
was  seen  to  be  her  figurehead ;  she  displayed 
the  name  (iril'lin  and  })ore  the  white  flag 
of  France.  The  priest  himself  felt  obliged  to 
receive  her  company,  for  three  Recollet  friars, 
in  the  gray  robe  of  St.  Francis,  appeared  on  the 
deck.  But  two  men,  one  in  a  mantle  of  scarlet 
and  gold,  and  the  other  in  white  and  gold  French 
uniform,  were  most  watched  by  all  eyes. 

The  ship  fired  a  salute,  and  the  Indians 
howled  with  terror  and  started  to   run;  then 

44 


o 


i; 

n 

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H 

r; 

T 

r 

m 

« 

03 

;:; 

c 

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r 

-n 

o 

T" 

z 

r 

CD 

— 

— 

n 

r' 

T1 

■/. 

H 

-• 

T 

>! 

m 

- 

o 

— 

:n 

z 


3 


3, 
3 


The  Man  with  the   Copper  Hand. 


45 


turned  back  to  see  her  drop  her  sails  and  her 
anchor,  and  come  up  in  that  deep  crescent- 
shaped  bay.  She  had  weathered  a  hard  storm 
in  Lake  Huron;  but  the  men  who  handled  her 
ropes  were  of 
little  interest  to 
coureurs  de  bois 
on  shore,  who 
watched  her 
masters  coming 
to  land. 

"ItistheSieur 
de  la  Salle  in  the 
scarlet  mantle," 
one  coureur  de 
bois  said  to  an- 
other. "And  this 
is  the  ship  he 
hath  been  building  at  Niagara.  First  one  hears 
that  creditors  have  seized  his  fort  of  Fronte- 
nac,  and  then  one  beholds  him  sailing  here  in 
state,  as  though  naught  on  earth  could  daunt 
him." 

"I  would  like  service  with  him,"  said  the 
other  coureur  de  bois. 

His  companion  laughed. 

"Service  with   La  Salle  means   the  hardest 


La  Salle. 


46  Heroes  of  the  Middle  West. 

marching  and  heaviest  labor  a  voyageur  ever 
undertook.  I  have  heard  he  is  himself  tough 
as  iron.  But  men  hereabouts  who  have  been 
in  his  service  will  take  to  the  woods  when  they 
hear  he  has  arrived ;  traders  that  he  sent  ahead 
with  goods.  If  he  gets  his  hand  on  them  after 
he  finds  they  have  squandered  his  property,  it 
will  go  hard  with  them." 

"  He  has  a  long  gray-colored  face  above  his 
broad  shoulders.  I  have  heard  of  this  Sieur 
Robert  Cavelier  de  la  Salle  ever  since  he  came 
to  tlie  province  more  than  ten  years  ago,  but 
I  never  saw  him  before.  Is  it  true  that  Count 
Frontenac  is  greatly  bound  to  him?" 

"  So  true  that  Sieur  do  la  Salle  thereby  got 
favor  at  court.  It  was  at  court  that  a  prince 
recommended  to  him  yon  swart  Italian  in  white 
and  gold  that  he  brought  with  him  on  his  last 
voyage  from  France.  Now,  there  is  a  man 
known  already  throughout  the  colony  by  reason 
of  his  hand." 

"Which  hand ^" 

"  The  right  one." 

"  I  see  naught  ailing  that.  He  wears  long 
gauntlets  pulled  well  over  both  wrists." 

"His  left  hand  is  on  his  sword  hilt.  Doth 
he  not  hold  the  right  a  little  stiflly?" 


Tke  Man  with  the   Cojqjer  Hand.  47 

"  It  is  true.     The  fingers  are  not  hent." 

"They  never  will  be  bent.  It  is  a  hand  of 
copper." 

"  How  can  a  man  with  a  copper  hand  be  of 
service  in  tlie  wilderness?" 

The  first  ranger  shrugged.  "  That  I  know 
nott  But  having  been  maimed  in  European 
wars  and  fitted  with  a  co})per  hand,  he  was  yet 
recommended  to  Sieur  de  la  Salle." 

"But  why  hath  an  Italian  the  uniform  of 
France  ?  " 

"  He  is  a  French  officer,  having  been  exiled 
with  his  father  from  his  own  country." 

The  coureur  de  bois,  wlio  had  reached  the 
settlement  later  than  his  companion,  grunted. 

"  One  would  say  thou  wert  of  the  Griffin 
crew  thyself,  with  the  latest  news  from  Quebec 
and  Montreal." 

"  Not  I,"  laughed  the  first  one.  "  I  have  only 
been  in  the  woods  with  Greysolon  du  Lhut,  who 
knows  everything." 

"  Then  he  told  thee  the  name  of  this  Italian 
with  the  copper  hand?" 

"Assuredly.  This  Italian  with  the  copper 
hand  is  Sieur  Greysolon  du  Lhut's  cousin,  and 
his  name  is  Henri  de  Tonty." 

"  I    will    say    this    for    Monsieur    Henri   de 


48  Heroes  of  the  Middle  West. 

Tonty :  a  better  made  iiiuii  never  stepped  on 
the  sti-and  at  St.  Ignace." 

Greysolon  du  Lhut  was  the  captain  of  coureurs 
de  bois  in  tlie  northwest.     No  other  leader  had 

such  influence  with   the 

^^gmmi^t^  I  lawless    and    daring. 

J^^yjf^ ^Ijf     When    these    men    were 

S^m^ ^  9r^l       gathered  in  a  settlement, 

^^         spending  what  they  had 

Autograph  of  Tonty.  ,     .  i    •     i  •  i 

earned  in  drinking  and 
gaming,  it  was  hard  to  restrain  them  within 
civilized  bounds.  But  when  they  took  service 
to  slioulder  loads  and  march  into  the  wilderness, 
the  strongest  hand  could  not  keep  them  from 
open  rebellion  and  desertion.  There  were  few 
devoted  and  faithful  voyageurs,  such  as  Pierre 
Porteret  and  Jacques  had  proved  themselves  in 
following  Marquette.  Tlie  term  of  service  was 
usually  two  years ;  but  at  the  first  hardship  some 
might  slip  away  in  the  night,  even  at  the  risk  of 
perishing  before  they  reached  the  settlements. 

St.  Ignace  made  a  procession  behind  La  Salle's 
party  and  followed  them  into  the  chapel  to  hear 
mass — French  traders,  Ottawas,  Hurons,  cou- 
reurs de  bois,  squaws,  and  children.  When  the 
priest  turned  from  the  altar,  he  looked  down  on 
complexions  ranging  from  the  natural  pallor  of 


The  Man  ivith  the   Coppei'  Hand. 


49 


La  Salle  to  tlu;  hlack-ivd  ul"  tliu  most  weather- 
beaten  native. 

The  Hui'ons  then  living  at  St.  Ignace,  whom 
Father  Marqnette  had  led  there  from  his  earlier 
ni  i  s  s  i  o  n,  af ter- 
wards  wandered 
to  Detroit  and 
Sandusky,  the 
priests  having 
decided  to  aban- 
don St.  I  g  n  a  c  e 
a  n  d  b  u  r  n  the 
chapel.  In  our 
own  day  we  hear 
of  their  descend- 
ants as  settled  in 
the  Indian  Territory,  the  smallest  but  wealthiest 
band  of  all  transplanted  Indians. 

Having  entered  the  lake  region  with  impres- 
sive ceremonies,  which  he  well  knew  how  to 
employ  before  ignorarxC  men  and  savages,  La 
Salle  threw  aside  his  splendor,  and,  with  his 
lieutenant,  put  on  the  buckskins  for  marching 
and  canoe  journeying  into  the  wilderness.  Some 
of  the  men  he  had  sent  up  the  lakes  with  goods 
nearly  a  year  before  had  collected  a  large  store 
of  furs,  worth  much  money;  and  these  he  de- 


Totem  of  the  Huroiis. 


50  J/eroey  of  the  Middle  West. 

terinined  to  send  buck  to  Ctuuiila  on  the  Griniii, 
to  satisfy  his  creditors  and  to  ^\\{i  him  means 
for  carrying  on  his  phms.  lie  liad  meant,  after 
sending  Tonty  on  to  tlie  Illinois  cimntry,  to 
retnrn  to  Canada  and  settle  his  a^Yairs.  Bnt 
it  became  necessary^  as  soon  as  lie  landed  at 
St.  Ignace,  to  divide  his  party  and  send  Tonty 
with  some  of  the  men  to  Sanlt  Ste.  Marie  after 
plunderers  who  had  made  off  with  his  goods. 
The  others  would  doubtless  desert  if  left  any 
length  of  time  without  a  leader.  It  was  a  risk 
also  to  send  his  ship  back  to  the  colony  without 
standing  guard  over  its  safety  himself.  But  he 
greatly  needed  the  credit  which  its  load  of  furs 
would  give  him.  So  he  determined  to  send  it 
manned  as  it  was,  with  orders  to  return  to  the 
head  of  Lake  Michigan  as  soon  as  the  cargo  was 
safely  landed  ;  while  he  voyaged  down  the  west 
side  of  the  lake,  and  Tonty,  returning  from  the 
Sault,  came  by  the  east  shore.  The  reunited 
party  would  then  have  the  Griffin  as  a  kind  of 
floating  fort  or  refuge,  and  by  means  of  it  keep 
easily  in  communication  with  the  settlements. 

La  Salle  wanted  to  build  a  chain  of  forts  from 
Niagara  to  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  when 
that  could  be  reached.  Around  each  of  these, 
and  protected  by  them,  he  foresaw  settlements 


The  Man  with  the   Copper  Han  f.  51 

of  Freiu'li  and  Indians,  and  a  vast  trade  in  t'ni's 
and  tlic  prod  nets  of  the  nndevelopcd  Avcst.  Tluis 
France  would  acquire  a  province  many  times  its 
own  size.  The  undertakin<»-  was  greater  than 
conquering  a  kingdom.  Nobody  else  divined  at 
that  time  the  wonderful  promise  of  the  west  is 
La  Salle  i)ictured  it.  Little  attention  had  been 
paid  to  the  discoveries  of  Marquette  and  Joliiet. 
Franco  would  have  got  no  benefit  from  them 
had  not  La  Salle  so  soon  followed  on  the  track 
of  missionary  and  trader,  verified  what  had  been 
done,  and  pushed  on. 

He  had  seen  Joliiet  twice.  The  first  time 
they  met  near  Niagara,  when  both  were  explor- 
ing ;  the  second  time,  Joliiet  is  said  to  have 
stopped  with  his  maps  and  papers  before  they 
were  lost  at  Fort  Frontenac,  on  his  return  from 
his  Mississippi  voyage.  La  Salle,  then  master 
of  Fort  Frontenac,  must  have  examined  these 
charts  and  journals  with  interest.  It  does  not 
appear  that  the  two  men  were  ever  very  friendly. 
Joliiet  was  too  easily  satisfied  to  please  La 
Salle  ;  he  had  not  the  ability  to  spread  France's 
dominion  over  the  whole  western  wilderness, 
and  that  was  what  La  Salle  was  planning  to 
do  before  Marquette  and  Joliiet  set  out  for  the 
Mississippi. 


52  J  femes  of  the  MhUUe  West. 

St.  I^ii{i('(^  l)('('iini('  once  mom  tlu!  stiirtiii^ 
p()ii)t  of  Hii  ini[)(H'tjint  (ixpcditioii,  tliou^li  La 
Sjillc,  Ik'I'oi'ij  sending'  tlu;  (ifilliii  ])iick,  siiiltMl  in 
lu!!'  as  far  as  SXw.  I5ay  of  INiaiis,  wlicn^  many  of 
liis  furs  vvurc;  collected.  Jh;  parted  with  this 
f(ood  ship  ill  September.  SIk;  point(Ml  her  plow 
eastward,  and  lu;  turned  soutli  with  fourteen 
men  in  four  eanoes,  earryinjj^  tools,  arms,  goods, 
and  even  a  bhuiksmitlTs  forge. 

Through  storm,  and  famine,  and  peril  with 
Indians  they  labored  down  the  lake,  and  did 
not  reach  the  place  when;  they  were  to  meet 
Tonty  until  the  first  of  November.  La  Salle 
had  the  three  Kdcollet  friars  with  liim.  Thougli 
one  was  a  man  sixty-four  years  old,  he  bore, 
with  his  companions,  every  hardship  patitnitly 
and  cheo'fuUy.  The  story  of  priests  who  helped 
to  open  the  wildcirness  and  who  carried  religion 
to  savages  is  a  beautiful  chapter  of  our  national 
life. 

Tonty  was  not  at  tlu;  place  where  th(;y  w(Te 
to  meet  him.  This  was  the  mouth  of  the  St. 
Josepli  River,  which  La  Salle  nanuid  the  Miamis. 
The  men  did  not  want  to  wait,  for  tlu^y  were 
afraid  of  starving  if  they  reached  the  Illinois 
eountiy  after  the  Indians  had  sciittered  to  winter 
hunting  grounds.     But  La  Salle  would  not  go  on 


Tlu:   Man   with   tlm   (^ojtiirr   Hand.  t){\ 

until  Tonty  Jij)p(!5irt!(l.  Ih;  [)ut  tli«!  incii  to  work 
i)iiil(rm^'  ii  tiiiilx!!'  stockiidt',  wliicli  lu;  ciillcd  Vovi 
JVIiiimis  ;  tliiis  lu'^j^iimiii^'  in  i\\v  fjice  ol'discourji^*!- 
iiicntliis  plan  ol'  crcjitiiig  a  line  of  t'oi'tiliciitioiis. 

Toiity,  tlulitycd  by  lii(;k  ol"  provisions  uiid  llic, 
need  of  hunting,  reuchod  Fort  Miamis  with  liis 
men  in  twenty  days.  But  tlu;  (irillin  (hd  not 
conn;  at  aU.  More  tlian  tinni  enougli  liad  [.'asscd 
for  lit'i'  to  riiacli  Fort  Niagara,  unload  her  cai'go, 
and  return.  J^a  Salle  watchcid  the  lake;  eon- 
stantly  for  her  sails.  He  ])egan  to  be  heavy- 
hearted  for  her,  hut  he  dared  wait  no  longer; 
so,  sending  two  men  baek  to  nu!et  and  guide 
her  to  this  new  post,  he  moved  on. 

Eight  eanoes  carried  his  party  of  thirty-three 
people.  They  aseended  th(i  St.  Joseph  River  to 
find  a  portage  to  the  liead  waters  of  the  Jllinois. 
Tliis  l)rought  them  within  the  present  state  of 
Indiana;  and  when  they  had  reached  that  (jurve 
of  the  river  where  South  liend  now  stands,  they 
left  St.  Joseph  to  gro})e  for  the  Theakiki,  or 
Kankakee,  a  branch  called  by  some  Indians  the 
Illinois  itself. 

La  Salle  became  sei)arat(id  from  the  i^arty  on 
this  portage,  eagerly  and  fcnirlessly  scouring  the 
woods  for  tlie  river's  beginning.  Tonty  camped 
and    waited   for   him,    fired   guns,   called,   and 


54  llvrncs  of  tin;   Middle.   Wrst. 

hi'UI'<'Im'(|  ;  l)ii(  lie  \v;is  ^(iiic  all  iii;^lil  iiiid  until 
llic  next  iiricriKMUi.  Tlicr  stuiH  vvcic  Mot  led 
ovcrliciid,  f'oi"  a  powdci"  of  snow  lliickcncd  tin; 
ail',  wrii'dly  ilhiininatin^^  naked  trees  in  the  dark- 
ness, Itut  shutting'  in  liis  vision.  It  was  j»ast 
midni^nt  when  he  eanu;  in  this  hiind  circle  once 
more  to  the  hanks  (»!*  tli(!  St.  .Iose[)h,  and  saw  a 
lir(^  ^lintin;^''  thionj^ii  <lens(^  bnshes. 

"Now  I  hav(!  readied  eaiii]),"  thon^^ht  \Ai 
Salle,  and  Ik;  lircid  his  ^nii  to  K;t  his  peoph;  know 
lio  was  approaching'.  I^hoes  rolled  through  tin; 
woods.  Without  waitinn-  lor  a  shot  in  reply  he 
hurried  t.o  the  liri;.  No  person  was  near  it.  Tho 
d(!seeiidiii^'  snow  liisscd,  caught  in  tla;  flames. 
Here  was  a  home  heartli  i)rej)ai'ed  in  the;  wilder- 
ness, and  no  wcdeome  to  it  hut  sih^nci!.  La  Salh; 
(jailed  out  in  (fvc^ry  Indian  laiij^niagc!  he  knew. 
Dead  hrsiiichcs  crated,  and  the;  stream  rustled 
hetwixt  its  edj^es  of  i(;e.  A  lioap  of  dry  grass 
was  gathoHid  for  a  lied  under  a  i\VA\  by  tlu;  lire, 
and  its  elastic  to[)  s1iow(m1  tlu;  hollow  wliere  a 
man  had  kiin.  La  Salh;  put  soiiu^  mon;  wood 
(>ii  tlie  lire,  pihid  a  liarricade  of  hrusli  around  the 
bed,  and  lay  down  in  a  place  left  warm  by  souk; 
strolling  Indian  whom  his  gun  had  frightciiH^l 
away.  He  slept  until  morning.  In  tlio  aftt;r- 
riooii  he  found  his  own  camp. 


The  Man  nu'i/i   thr   ('oiijw'   I  hind.  /)/> 

From  (lu!  liist,  IImcjkI  of  llic  Kiiiikakcc  oozing 
out  oi'  svvHiiips  to  tlic  Iiidiaii  (own  on  tlic  Illi- 
noi.s  River  wIkmh;  Miii(|ii('l(r  liiid  doiic  liis  lii.st 
iiiissioiiary  \V(tik,  was  a  loii^'  caiioc  joiiriicy.  It 
luiH  luH'ii  said  (111!  livers  of  (lu!  New  Woild  inado 
its  rapid  settleiiieiil  j>ossil»i(! ;  for  lliey  were  o|)(*n 
highways,  (ivcii  in  the;  dead  of  winter  guiding 
th(!  explorei'   hy   theii"   fro/en    courses. 

Tlic!  Illinois  (rihe  had  scattered  to  Iheir  hiuil/- 
ing,  and  (he  htdges  stood  (!inp(,y.  La  Sall(}'H 
men  were  famished  for  supplies,  so  he;  vendiied 
to  open  tli(!  covei'e(l  pi(s  in  which  tlie  Indians 
s(.ored  their  corn.  Nodiing  was  nior(!  pi(!eious 
than  this  hidden  grain  ;  hut  In^  [)aid  for  what  ho 
took  when  he  reached  the;  Indians.  This  was  no(, 
until  af((!r  New  Year's  day.  II(!  had  descended 
th(!  riv(M'  as  fai'  as  (hat  expansion  now  ealhsd 
Peoria   Lake. 

'V\\v.  IHin(>is,  afUa'  tlieir  first  panic  Jit  the 
appearance!  of  strange  wliiti;  m(!n,  r(U!eiv(Ml  La 
Salhi's  j)arty  kindly,  fed  all  witli  (heir  own 
fingers,  and,  as  they  had  done  with  Jollicrt  and 
Mar(juett(!  wlien  tliose  (explorers  ])asse(l  thc^m  on 
tlu!  Mississippi,  triisd  to  c^oax  tlieir  guests  to  go 
no  I'artlier.  'Llu^y  ami  other  Indians  who  came 
to  the  winter  camp  told  such  (al(!S  of  danger  on 
that  grciat  rivtu'  about  whidi  ihv.  French  knew 


56  Heroes  of  the  Middle  West. 

so  little,  that  six  of  La  Salle's  men  deserted  in 
one  night. 

This  caused  him  to  move  half  a  league  beyond 
the  Illinois  camp,  where,  on  the  southern  bank, 
he  built  a  palisaded  fort  and  called  it  Crevecceur. 
He  was  by  this  time  convinced  that  the  Griffin 
was  lost.  Whether  she  went  down  in  a  storm, 
or  was  scuttled  and  sunk  by  those  to  whom  he 
intrusted  her,  nothing  was  ever  heard  of  her 
again.  The  furs  he  had  sent  to  pay  his  credi- 
tors never  in  any  wjiy  reached  port.  If  they 
escaped  shipwreck,  they  were  stolen  by  the  men 
who  escaped  with  them. 

Nothing  could  bend  La  Salle's  resolution.  He 
meant  in  some  way  to  explore  the  west  through 
which  the  southern  Mississippi  ran.  But  the 
loss  of  the  Griffin  hurt  him  sorely.  He  could 
not  go  on  without  more  supplies;  and  having 
no  vessel  to  bring  them,  the  fearful  necessity 
was  before  him  of  returning  on  foot  and  by 
canoe  to  Fort  Frontenac  to  bring  them  him- 
self. 

He  began  to  build  another  ship  on  the  Illinois 
River,  and  needed  cables  and  rigging  for  her. 
This  vessel  being  partly  finished  by  the  first  of 
March,  he  left  her  and  Fort  Crevecceur  in 
Tonty's    charge,   and,  taking   four   Frenchmen 


The  Man  with  the   Copper  Hand.  57 

and  a  Mohegan  hunter,  set  out  on  the  long  and 
terrible  journey  to  Fort  Frontenac. 

The  Italian  connnandant  with  the  copper  hand 
could  number  on  its  metal  fingers  the  only  men 
to  be  trusted  in  his  garrison  of  fifteen.  One 
R^coUet,  Father  Louis  Hennepin,  had  been  sent 
with  two  companions  by  La  Salle  to  explore  the 
upper  Mississippi.  Father  llibourdo  and  Fatlier 
Membre  remained.  The  young  Sieur  de  Bois- 
rondet  might  also  be  relied  on,  as  well  as  a 
Parisian  lad  named  Etienne  Renault,  and  their 
servant  L'Esperance.  As  for  the  others,  smiths, 
shipwrights,  and  soldiers  were  ready  to  nuitiny 
any  moment.  They  cared  nothing  a1)0ut  the 
discovery  of  the  west.  They  were  afraid  of  La 
Salle  when  he  was  witli  them ;  and,  though  it 
is  said  no  man  could  help  loving  Tonty,  tli^se 
lawless  fellows  loved  their  own  wills  better. 

The  two  men  that  La  Salle  had  sent  to  look 
for  the  Gi'ilhn  arrived  at  Fort  Crevecoeur,  bear- 
ing a  message  from  him,  having  met  liim  on  the 
way.  They  had  no  news,  but  he  wrote  a  letter 
and  sent  them  on  to  Tonty.  He  urged  Tonty 
to  take  part  of  the  garrison  and  go  and  fortify  a 
great  rock  he  had  noticed  opposite  the  Illinois 
town.  Whatever  La  Salle  wanted  done  Tonty 
was  anxious  to  accomplish,  though  separating 


58  Heroes  of  the  Middle  West. 

himself  from  Creveccieur,  even  for  a  day,  was  a 
dangerous  experiment.  But  he  took  some  men 
and  ascended  the  river  to  the  rock.  Straight- 
way smiths,  shif)wrights,  and  soldiers  in  Creve- 
coeur,  seizing  powder,  lead,  furs,  and  provisions, 
deserted  and  made  their  way  back  to  Canada. 
Boisrondet,  the  friars,  and  L'Esperance  hurried 
to  tell  Tonty ;  and  thus  Fort  Crevecoeur  and 
tlie  partly  finished  ship  had  to  be  abandoned. 
Tonty  dispatched  four  men  to  warn  La  Salle  of 
the  disaster.  He  could  neither  hold  this  posi- 
tion nor  fortify  the  rock  in  the  midst  of  jealous 
savages  with  two  friars,  one  young  officer,  a  lad, 
and  one  servant.  He  took  the  forge,  and  tools, 
and  all  that  w^as  left  in  Crevecoeur  into  the  very 
heart  of  the  Indian  village  and  built  a  long- 
lodge,  shaped  like  the  wigwams  of  the  Illinois. 
This  was  the  only  way  to  put  down  their  sus- 
picion. Seeing  that  the  Frenchmen  had  come 
to  dwell  among  them,  the  Indians  were  pleased, 
and  their  women  helped  with  poles  and  mats  to 
build  the  lodge. 

For  by  this  time,  so  long  did  it  take  to  cover 
distances  in  the  wilderness,  spring  and  summer 
were  past,  and  the  Illinois  were  dwelling  in  their 
great  town,  nearly  opposite  the  rock  which  La 
Salle   desired   to   have  fortified.     Tonty  often 


The  Man  with  the  Cojjper  Hand.  59 

gazed  at  it  across  the  river,  which  flows  south- 
westward  there,  with  a  ripple  that  does  not  break 
into  actual  rapids.  The  yellow  sandstone  height, 
rising  like  a  square  mountain  out  of  the  shore, 
was  tufted  with  ferns  and  trees.  No  man  could 
ascend  it  except  at  the  southeast  corner,  and  at 
that  place  a  ladder  or  a  rope  was  needed  by  the 
unskillful.  It  had  a  flat,  grassy  top  shut  in  by 
trees,  through  which  one  could  see  the  surround- 
ing country  as  from  a  tower.  A  ravine  behind 
it  was  banked  and  floored  with  dazzling  wliite 
sand,  and  walled  at  the  farther  side  by  a  timbered 
cliff  rising  to  a  prairie.  With  a  score  of  men 
Tonty  could  have  held  this  natural  fortress 
against  any  attack.  Buckets  might  be  rigged 
from  overhanging  trees  to  draw  up  water  from 
the  river.  Provisions  and  amnmnition  only 
were  needed  for  a  garrison.  This  is  now  called 
Starved  Rock,  and  is  nearly  opposite  the  town  of 
Utica.  Some  distance  up  the  river  is  a  longer 
ridge,  yet  known  as  Buffalo  Rock,  easy  of  ascent 
at  one  end,  up  which  the  savages  are  said  to  have 
chased  buffaloes  ;  and  precipitous  at  the  other, 
down  svhich  the  frightened  beasts  plunged  to 
death. 

The  tenth  day  of  September  a  mellow  autumn 
sun  shone  on  maize  fields  where  squaws  labored, 


GO  Heroes  of  the  Middle  West. 

on  lazy  old  lu-iivcs  sprawled  around  buffalo  I'obes, 
ganihling  with  cluTiy  stones,  and  on  peaceful 
Iodides  above  wliieli  the  blue  smoke  faintly 
wavered.  It  was  so  warm  the  lires  were  nearly 
out.  Young  warriors  of  the  tribes  were  away 
on  an  expedition;  but  the  populous  Indian  town 
swarmed  with  its  thousands. 

Father  Kibourde  and  Father  Membre  had 
that  mornino-  withdrawn  a  league  up  the  river 
to  make  what  they  called  a  retreat  for  prayer 
and  meditation.  The  other  Frenchmen  were 
divided  between  lodge  and  garden. 

Near  this  living  town  was  the  town  of  the 
dead,  a  hamlet  of  scaffolds,  where,  wrapped  in 
skins,  above  the  reach  of  wolves,  Illinois  Indians 
of  a  past  generation  slept  their  winters  and 
sunnners  away.  Crows  flapped  across  them 
and  settled  on  the  corn,  causing  much  ado 
among  the  papooses  who  were  set  to  shout 
and  rattle  sticks  for  the  protection  of  the  croj). 

Suddenly  a  man  ran  into  camp,  having  just 
leaped  from  the  canoe  which  brought  him  across 
the  river.  When  he  had  talked  an  instant  old 
braves  bounded  to  their  feet  with  furious  cries, 
the  tribes  flocked  out  of  lodges,  and  women  and 
children  caught  the  panic  and  came  screeching. 

"What   is    tlie    matter?"  exclaimed  Tonty, 


Thu  Man  vnth  the   Copper  Hand.  61 

unable  to  understand  their  rai)id  jargon.  The 
Frenchmen  drew  together  with  the  instinct  of 
uniting  in  peril,  and,  led  by  old  men,  the 
Indian   mob  turned  on   them. 

"What  is  it?"  cried  Tonty. 

"  The  Iroquois  are  coming  !  The  Iroquois 
are  coming  to  eat  us  up  !  These  Frenchmen 
liave  brought  the  Iroquois  upon  us  I  " 

"Will  you  standoff!"  Tonty  Avarned  them. 
And  every  brave  in  the  town  knew  what  the}' 
called  the  medicine  hand  in  his  right  gauntlet, 
powerful  and  hard  as  a  war  club.  Tliey  stood 
in  awe  of  it  as  something  more  tlian  human. 
He  put  his  followers  behind  him.  The  French- 
men crowded  back  to  back,  facing  tlie  savage 
crowd.  Hampered  by  his  imperfect  knowledge 
of  tnei"'  language,  he  hearkened  intently  to  the 
jangle  of  raging  voices,  his  keen  dark  eyes 
sweejnng  from  face  to  face.  Tonty  was  a  man 
of  impressive  presence,  who  inspired  confidence 
even  in  Indians.  They  held  back  from  slaying 
him  and  his  people,  but  fiercely  accused  him. 
Young  braves  dragged  from  the  French  lodge 
the  goods  and  forge  saved  from  Fort  Creveco^ur, 
and  ran  yelling  to  heave  everything  into  the 
river. 

"  The  Iroquois  are  your  friends !    The  Iroquois 


62  Heroes  of  the  Middle   West. 

are  at  peace  with  the  French !  But  they  are 
marching  here  to  eat  us  up!" 

"We  know  nothing  about  the  Iroquois!" 
shouted  Tonty.  "  If  they  are  coming  we  will 
go  out  with  you  to  fight  them !" 

Only  half  convinced,  but  panic-stricken  from 
former  encounters  with  a  foe  who  always  drove 
them  off  their  land,  they  turned  from  threaten- 
ing Tonty  and  ran  to  push  out  their  canoes. 
Into  these  were  put  the  women  and  children, 
with  supplies,  and  all  were  paddled  down  river 
to  an  island,  where  guards  could  be  set.  The 
warriors  then  came  back  and  prepared  for  fight- 
ing. They  greased  their  bodies,  painted  their 
faces,  made  ready  their  weapons,  and  danced 
and  howled  to  excite  one  another  to  courage. 
All  night  fires  along  shore,  and  leaping  figures, 
were  reflected  in  the  dark  river. 

About  dawn,  scouts  who  had  been  sent  to 
watch  the  Iroquois  came  running  with  news 
that  the  enemy  w^ere  almost  in  sight  across  the 
prairie  on  the  opposite  side,  slipping  under  cover 
of  woods  along  a  small  branch  of  the  Illinois 
River.  They  had  guns,  pistols,  and  swords,  and 
carried  bucklers  of  rawhide.  The  scouts  declared 
that  a  Jesuit  priest  and  La  Salle  himself  led 
them. 


The  Man  ivlth  the  Copper  Hand.  63 

The  Frenchmen's  lives  seemed  hardly  a  breath 
long.  In  the  midst  of  maddened,  scieeching 
savages  Tonty  and  his  men  once  more  stood 
back  to  back,  and  he  pushed  off  knives  with 
his  copper  hand. 

"  Do  you  want  to  kill  yourselves?"  he  shouted. 
"  If  you  kill  us,  the  French  governor  will  not 
leave  a  man  of  you  alive !  I  tell  you  Monsieur 
de  la  Salle  is  not  with  the  Iroquois,  nor  is  any 
priest  leading  them !  Do  you  not  remember  the 
good  Father  Marquette?  Would  such  men  as 
he  lead  tribes  to  fight  one  another?  If  all  the 
Iroquois  had  stolen  French  clothes,  you  would 
think  an  army  of  Jesuits  and  Messieurs  de  la 
Salle  were  coming  against  you  ! " 

'■  But  some  one  has  brought  the  Iroquois 
upon  us!" 

"  I  told  you  before  we  know  nothing  about 
the  Iroquois!  But  we  will  go  with  you  now 
to  fight  them!" 

At  that  the  Illinois  put  their  knives  in  their 
belts  and  ran  shouting  to  throw  themselves  into 
the  canoes.  Warfare  with  American  Indians 
was  always  the  rush  of  a  mob,  where  every  one 
acted  for  himself  without  military  order. 

"It  is  well  the  good  friars  are  away  making 
their  retreat,"  said  Tonty  to   Boisrondet  and 


04 


Heroes  of  the  Middle    Jrest. 


KticniKj  IvLMiuiilt  while  tliey  ])-'i(l(lUMi  as  fast  as 
tlioy  covikl  across  tliu  river  with  tlie  Illinois. 
"  Poor  okl  I/Ksperaiiec  must  be  makiii<^  a 
retreat,  too." 

"  I  liave  not  myself  seen  him  since  last  nijT^ht," 
Boisrondet  remembered. 

"lie  put  out  in  a  canoe  when  tlie  Indians 
were  embarking  their  women  and  cliildren," 
said  Ktienne  Renault.     "1  saw  him  no." 

And  so  it  proved  afterwards.  But  L'Ksper- 
ance  had  sli})ped  away  to  bring  back  Father 
Membre  and  Father  Ribourde  to  tend  the 
w^ounded   and   dvinsf. 

Having  crossed  the  river  and  reached  the 
prairie,  Tonty  and  his  allies  saw  the  Inxpiois. 


I.ong  Uouse  of  the  U'oquois. 


They  came  prancing  and  screeching  on  their 
savage  march,  and  would  have  been  ridiculous 
if  they  had  not  been  appalling.  These  Hodeno- 
sauree,  or  People  of  the  Long  House,  as  they 


The  Man    u'tfli   the   Cojtper  Hand.  66 

cjiUt'd  tli(jiiiselvus,  wcru  the  most  terrible  force 
in  the  New  World.  Tonty  saw  at  once  it  would 
go  hard  with  the  Illinois  nation.  Never  at  any 
time  as  hardy  as  their  invaders,  who  by  frec^uent 
attacks  had  broken  their  courage,  and  weakened 
by  the  absence  of  their  best  warriors,  they 
wavered  in   their  first  charge. 

He  put  down  his  gun  and  offered  to  carry 
a  peace  belt  to  the  Iroquois  to  stop  the  fight. 
The  Illinois  gladly  gave  him  a  wampum  girdle 
and  sent  a  young  Indian  with  him.  Boisrondet 
and  Etienne  Renault  also  walked  at  his  side 
into  the  o})en  space  between  two  barbaric 
armies.  The  Iroquois  did  not  stop  firing  when 
he  held  up  and  waved  the  belt  in  his  left  hand. 
Bullets  spattered  on  the  hummocky  sod  of  the 
prairie  around  him. 

''Go  back,"  Tonty  said  to  Boisrondet  and 
Renault  and  the  young  Indian.  "  What  need 
is  there  of  so  many  ?  Take  the  lad  back,  Bois- 
rondet." 

They  hesitated  to  leave  him 

"Go  back!"  he  repeated  sharply,  so  they 
turned,  and  he  ran  on  alone.  The  Iroquois 
guns  seemed  to  flash  in  his  face.  It  was  like 
throwing  himself  among  furious  wolves.  Snarl- 
ing lips  and  snaky  eyes  and  twisting  sinuous 


C6  Heroes  of  the  Middle    Went. 

bodies  made  nightmares  around  him.  He  felt 
himself  seized  ;  a  young  warrior  stabbed  him 
in  the  side.  The  knife  glanced  on  a  ril),  l)ut 
blood  ran  down  his  buckskins  and  (illed  his 
throat. 

"Stop!"  shouted  an  Iroquois  chief.  "This 
is  a  Frenchman  ;  his  ears  are  not  pierced." 

Tonty's  swarthy  skin  was  blanching  with  the 
anguish  of  his  wound,  which  turned  him  faint. 
His  black  hair  clung  in  rings  to  a  forehead  wet 
with  cold  perspiration.  But  he  held  the  wam- 
pum belt  aloft  and  spat  the  blood  out  of  liis 
mouth. 

"Iroquois!  The  Illinois  nation  are  under  the 
protection  of  the  French  king  and  Governor 
Frontenac !  I  demand  that  you  leave  them 
in  peace!" 

A  young  brave  snatched  his  hat  and  lifted  it 
on  the  end  of  a  gun.  At  that  the  Illinois  began 
a  frenzied  attack,  thinking  he  was  killed.  Tonty 
was  spun  around  as  in  a  whirlpool.  He  felt  a 
hand  in  his  hair  and  a  knife  at  his  scalp. 

"I  never,"  he  thought  to  himself,  "was  in 
such  perplexity  in  my  life!" 

"  Burn  him  !  "  shouted  some. 

"  But  he  is  French  !  "  others  cried.  "  Let 
him  go  I " 


The  Man  with  the  Co^jjfer  Hand.  67 

Through  all  tlio  uproar  he  urged  the  peace 
belt  and  threatened  them  with  France.  The 
wholesome  dread  which  (jovernor  Frontenac 
had  given  to  that  name  had  effect  on  them. 
Besides,  they  had  not  surprised  the  Illinois, 
and  if  they  declared  a  truce,  time  would  be 
gained  to  consider  their  future  movements. 

The  younger  braves  were  quieted,  and  old 
warriors  gave  Tonty  a  belt  to  carry  back  to 
the  Illinois.  He  staggered  across  the  prairie. 
Father  Uibourde  and  Father  Membr^,  who  had 
just  reached  the  spot,  ran  to  meet  him,  and 
supported  him  as  he  half  fainted  from  loss  of 
blood. 

Tonty  and  his  allies  withdrew  across  the 
river.  But  the  Iroquois,  instead  of  retreating, 
followed.  Seeing  what  must  happen,  Tonty 
thought  it  best  for  the  Illinois  to  give  up  their 
town  and  go  to  protect  their  women  and  chil- 
dren, while  he  attempted  as  long  as  possible 
to  keep  the  invaders  at  bay.  Lodges  were  set 
on  fire,  and  the  Illinois  withdrew  quietly  down 
river,  leaving  some  of  their  men  in  the  bluffs 
less  than  a  league  from  the  town,  to  bring  them 
word  of  the  result.  The  Frenchmen,  partially 
rebuilding  their  own  lodge,  whicli  had  been 
wrecked  when  their  goods  were  thrown  in  the 


C8  Heroes  of  the  Middle    West. 

river,  .stood  tlioir  ground  in  the  midst  of  insult- 
ing savages. 

For  the  Iroquois,  still  deteriuined  on  war  and 
despoiling,  opened  maize  pits,  scattering  and 
burning  the  griiin  ;  trampled  corn  in  the  lields  ; 
and  even  pulled  the  dead  off  tluiir  scaffolds. 
They  were  angry  at  the  French  for  threatening 
them  with  that  invisible  power  of  France,  and 
bent  on  chasing  the  Illinois.  Vet  Tonty  was 
able  to  force  a  kind  of  treaty  between  them  and 
the  retreating  nation,  through  the  men  left  in 
the  bluffs.  As  soon  as  they  had  made  it,  how- 
ever, they  began  canoes  of  elm  bark,  to  follow 
the  Illinois  down  river. 

Two  or  three  days  passed,  while  the  Fi'ench- 
men  sat  covering  the  invaded  tribe's  retreat. 
They  scarcely  slept  at  night.  Their  enemies 
prowled  around  their  lodge  or  celebrated  dances 
on  the  ruins  of  the  town.  The  river  flowed 
placidly,  and  the  sun  shone  on  desolation  and 
on  the  unaltered  ferny  buttresses  of  the  great 
rock  and  its  castellated  neighbors.  Tonty  heard 
with  half  delirious  ears  the  little  creatui-es 
which  sing  in  the  grass  and  fly  before  man,  but 
return  to  their  singing  as  soon  as  he  passes 
by.  The  friars  dressed  and  tended  his  fevered 
wound,  and  when  the  Iroquois  sent  for  him  to 


Tlu)  A/fUt  with   tlw   (^i)i>iHM'   IhunL  i\\) 

(!omo  to  a  council,  Kjitlier  Mcinl)i'(3  went  with 
him. 

VVitliiii  the  liulc  fort  of  [)osts  tuid  jxjU^s  siivcd 
from  ruined  hxlges,  which  the  Inxiuois  lijid 
built  for  themselves,  adding  a  ruiY  of  freshly 
clio[)ped  trees,  the  two  white  men  sat  down  in 
a  ring  of  glowering  savages.  Six  packs  of 
beaver  skins  were  i)iled  ready  for  the  oration  ; 
and  the  orator  rose  and  addressed  Tonty. 

With  the  first  two  the  Indian  spokesman 
})romised  that  his  nation  would  not  eat  Count 
Frontenac\s  children,  those  cowardly  Illinois. 

The  next  was  a  plaster  to  heal  Tonty 's 
wound. 

The  next  was  oil  to  anoint  him  and  the 
Recollets,  so  their  joints  would  move  easily 
in  traveling. 

The  next  said  that  the  sun  was  bright. 

And  the  sixth  and  last  pack  ordered  the 
French  to  get   up   and   leave   the   country. 

When  the  speaker  sat  down,  Tonty  came 
to  his  feet  and  looked  at  the  beaver  skins 
piled  before  them.  Then  he  looked  around  the 
circle  of  hard  weather-beaten  faces  and  rest- 
less eyes,  and  thanked  the  Iroquois  for  their 
gift. 

"  But  I  would  know,"  said  Tonty,  "  how  soon 


70  Ileronn  of  the  Middle  West. 

you  yourselves  intend  to  leave  the  country  and 
let  the  Illinois  be  in  peace?" 

There  was  a  growl,  and  a  number  of  the 
braves  burst  out  with  the  declaration  that  they 
intended  to  eat  Illinois  flesh  first. 

Tonty  raised  his  foot  and  kicked  the  beaver 
skins  from  him.  In  that  very  way  they  would 
have  rejected  a  one-sided  treaty  themselves. 
Up  they  sprang  with  drawn  knives  and  drove 
him  and  Father  Membre  from  the  fort. 

All  night  the  French  stood  guard  for  fear  of 
being  surprised  and  massacred  in  their  lodge. 
At  daybreak  the  chiefs  ordered  them  to  go 
without  waiting  another  hour,  and  gave  them 
a  leaky  boat. 

Tonty  had  protected  the  retreat  of  the  Illinois 
as  long  lus  he  could.  With  the  two  Kecollets, 
Boisrondet,  young  Renault,  and  L'Esperance, 
and  with  little  else,  he  set  out  up  the  river. 


o 


I 


Ll 

o 

to 

D 
O 


q: 
O 


O 

Ul 


S 


IV. 

THE  UNDESPAIBINO  NORMAN. 

"  The  northward  ciirreiit  of  the  eastern  shore 
of  Lake  Michigan  and  the  southward  current 
of  the  western  shore,"  says  a  writer  exact  in 
knowledge,  "naturally  made  the  St.  Joseph 
portage  a  return  route  to  Canada,  and  the  Chi- 
cago portage  an  outbound  one."  But  though 
La  Salle  was  a  careful  observer  and  nmst  have 
known  that  what  was  then  called  the  Chekago 
River  afforded  a  very  short  carrying  to  the 
Desplaine^  or  upper  Illinois,  he  saw  fit  to  use 
the  St.  Joseph  both  coming  and  going. 

His  march  to  Fort  Frontenac  he  afterwards 
described  in  a  letter  to  one  of  the  creditors 
interested  in  his  discoveries. 

"  Though  the  thaws  of  approaching  spring 
greatly  increased  the  difficulty  of  the  way,  in- 
terrupted as  it  was  ever;y^vhere  by  marshes  and 
rivers,  to  say  nothing  of  the  length  of  the 
journey,  which  is  about  five  hundred  leagues  in 
a  direct  line,  and  the  danger  of  meeting  Indians 
of  four  or  five  different  nations,  through  whose 

71 


72  Heroes  of  the  Middle    West. 

country  we  were  to  pass,  as  well  as  an  Iroquois 
army  Avhicli  we  knew  was  coming  that  way ; 
though  we  nuist  suffer  all  the  time  from  hunger  ; 
sleep  on  the  open  ground,  and  often  without 
food  ;  watch  by  night  and  march  by  day,  loaded 
with  baggage,  such  as  blanket,  clothing,  kettle, 
hatchet,  gun,  powder,  lead,  and  skhis  to  make 
moccasins  ;  sometimes  pushing  through  thickets, 
sometimes  climbing  rocks  covered  with  ice  and 
snow  ;  sometimes  wading  whole  days  through 
marshes  where  the  Avater  was  waist  deep  or  even 
more,  —  all  this  did  not  prevent  me  from  going 
to  Fort  Frontenac  to  bring  back  the  things  we 
needed  and  to  learn  myself  what  had  become  of 
my  vessel." 

Carrymg  their  canoes  where  the  river  was 
frozen,  and  finally  leaving  them  hidden  near 
where  the  town  of  Joliet  now  stands,  La  Salle 
and  his  men  pushed  or  until  they  reached  the 
fort  built  at  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Joseph.  Here 
he  found  the  two  voyageurs  he  had  sent  to 
search  for  the  Griffin.  I'hey  said  they  had  been 
around  the  lake  and  could  learn  nothing  of 
her.  He  then  directed  them  to  Tonty,  while 
he  marched  up  the  eastern  shore.  This  Michi- 
gan region  was  debatable  ground  among  the 
Indians,  where  they  met  to  fight;    and  he  left 


The   Undes^Mirlng  Nonnan,  73 

significant  marks  on  the  trees,  to  make  prowlers 
think  he  had  a  large  war  party.  A  dozen 
or  twenty  roving  savages,  ready  to  pounce  like 
ferocious  wildcats  on  a  camp,  always  peeled 
white  places  on  the  trees,  and  cut  pictures  there 
of  their  totem,  or  tribe  mark,  and  the  scalps 
and  prisoners  they  had  taken.  They  respected 
a  company  more  numerous  than  themselves, 
and  avoided  it. 

Stopping  to  nurse  the  sick  when  some  fell  ill 
of  exposure,  or  to  build  canoes  when  canoes 
were  needed.  La  Salle  did  not  reach  Fort  Niag- 
ara until  Easter,  and  it  was  May  when  Fort 
Frontenac  came  into  view.    ^ 

No  man  ever  suffered  more  from  treachery. 
Before  he  could  get  together  the  supplies  he 
needed,  trouble  after  trouble  fell  upon  him. 
The  men  that  Tonty  had  sent  to  tell  him  about 
the  destruction  of  Fort  Crevecoeur  were  followed 
by  others  who  brought  word  that  the  deserters 
had  destroyed  his  forts  at  the  St.  Joseph  River 
and  Niagarr.,  and  carried  off  all  the  goods.  The 
Griffin  was  certainly  lost.  And  before  gou^g 
back  to  the  Illmois  country  he  was  obliged  to 
chase  these  fellows  and  take  from  them  what 
could  be  recovered.  But  when  everybody  else 
seemed  to  be  against  him,  it  was  much  comfort 


74  Heroes  of  the  Middle    West. 

to  remember  he  had  a  faithful  lieutenant  while 
the  co])per-handed  Italian  lived. 

La  Salle  gatliered  twenty-five  men  of  trades 
useful  to  him,  and  another  outfit  with  all  that 
he  needed  for  a  ship,  having  made  new  arrange- 
ments with  his  creditors ;  and  going  by  way 
of  Michilimackinae,  he  reached  the  St.  Joseph 
early  in  November. 

Whenever,  in  our  own  day,  we  see  the  Kan- 
kakee still  gliding  along  its  rocky  bed,  or  the 
solemn  Illinois  spreading  betwixt  wooded  Ijanks, 
it  is  easy  to  imagine  a  birch  canoe  just  appear- 
ing around  a  bend,  carrying  La  Salle  or  Tonty, 
and  rowed  by  buckskin-clad  voyageurs.  On 
the  Kankakee  thousands  of  buffaloes  fdled  the 
plains,  and  La  Salle's  party  killed  many,  pre- 
paring the  flesh  in  dried  flakes  by  smoking  it. 

The  buffaloes  were  left  behind  when  they 
approached  the  great  town  on  the  Illinois.  La 
Salle  glanced  up  at  the  rock  he  wanted  fortified, 
but  no  palisade  or  Frenchman  was  to  be  seen. 

"It  seems  very  quiet,"  he  said  to  the  men  in 
his  canoe,  "  and  we  have  not  passed  a  hunter. 
There  —  there  is  the  meadow  where  the  town 
stood  ;  but  where  is  the  town  ?  " 

Heaps  of  ashes,  charred  poles,  broken  scaf- 
folds,   wolves    prowling    where    papooses    had 


The    f/n<fi'sj/((i/'ln(/  Norman.  75 

played,  crows  whirling  in  l)lack  clouds  or 
sitting  in  rows  on  naked  Immches,  bones,  — 
a  horrible  waste  plain  had  taken  the  place  of 
the  town. 

The  Frenchmen  scattered  over  it,  eageiiy 
seeking  some  trace  of  Tonty  and  his  compan- 
ions. They  labored  all  day,  until  the  sun  set, 
among  dreadful  sights  which  they  could  never 
forget,  without  finding  any  clue  to  his  fate. 

They  piled  charred  wood  together  and  made 
a  fire  and  camped  among  ruins.  Jiut  La  Salle 
lay  awake  all  niglit,  watching  the  sharp-[)ointed 
autumn  stars  march  overhead,  and  suffering 
wliat  must  have  seemed  the  most  unendurable 
of  all  his  losses. 

Determined  not  to  give  up  his  friend,  he  rose 
next  morning  and  helped  the  men  hide  tlieir 
heavy  freight  in  the  rocks,  leaving  two  of  them 
to  hide  with  and  guard  it,  and  w^ent  on  down 
the  Illinois  River.  On  one  bank  the  retreat  of 
the  invaded  tribe  could  l)e  traced,  and  on  the 
other  the  dead  camp-fires  of  the  Iroquois  who 
had  followed  them.  But  of  Tonty  and  his 
Frenchmen  there  was  still  no  sign. 

La  Salle  saw  the  ruins  of  Fort  Creveco'ur  and 
his  deserted  vessel.  And  so  searching  he  came 
to  the  mouth  of  the  Illinois  and  saw  for  the  first 


7()  Herons  of  the  Mid<lle    West. 

time  iliat  river  of  his  ambitions,  tlie  Mississippi. 
There  he  turned  back,  leaving  a  letter  tied  to  a 
tree,  on  the  ehauee  of  its  sometime  falling  into 
the  hands  of  Tonty.  There  was  nothing  to  do 
but  to  take  his  men  and  goods  from  among  the 
rocks  near  the  destroyed  town  and  return  to 
Fort  Miamis,  on  the  St.  Josepli,  which  some  of 
his  followers  had  rebuilt.  The  winter  was  upon 
them. 

La  Salle  never  sat  and  blooded  over  trouble. 
He  was  a  man  of  action.  Shut  in  with  his  men 
and  goods,  and  obliged  to  wait  until  spring 
permitted  him  to  take  the  next  step,  he  began 
at  once  to  work  on  Indian  hunters,  and  to  draw 
their  tribes  towards  forming  a  settlement  around 
the  rock  he  meant  to  fortify  on  the  Illinois. 
Had  he  been  able  to  attach  turl)ulcnt  voyageurs 
to  him  as  he  attached  native  tribes,  his  heroic 
life  would  have  ended  in  success  even  beyond 
his  dreams.  Tonty  could  better  deal  with 
ignorant  men,  his  military  training  standing 
him  in  good  stead  ;  yet  Tonty  dared  scarcely 
trust  a  voyageur  out  of  his  sight. 

While  Tonty  and  La  Salle  were  passing 
through  these  adventures,  the  Recollet  father, 
Louis  Hennepin,  and  his  two  companions,  sent 
by  La  Salle,   explored  the    upper   Mississippi. 


TJie   UndespairuKj  Xuntum.  11 

One  of  these  was  naiiied  Michael  Ako ;  the 
otlier,  Dli  (xjiy,  a  man  from  Picardy  in  France. 

They  left  Fort  Creveeouir  on  the  last  day  of 
Febrnary,  twenty-four  hours  before  La  Salle 
started  northward,  and  entered  the  Mississippi 
on  the  12th  of  Maich.  The  great  food-stocked 
stream  afforded  them  plenty  of  game,  wild 
turkeys,  buffaloes,  deer,  and  lish.  The  adven- 
turers excused  themselves  from  observing  the 
Lenten  season  set  apart  by  the  Church  for  fast- 
ing; but  Father  Hennepin  said  prayers  several 
times  a  day.  He  was  a  great  robust  Fleming, 
with  almost  as  much  endurance  as  that  hardy 
Norman,  La  Salle. 

I'hey  had  paddled  about  a  month  up  river 
through  the  region  where  Marquette  and  Jolliet 
had  descended,  when  one  afternoon  they  stopped 
to  repair  their  canoe  and  cook  a  wild  turkey. 
Hennepin,  with  his  sleeves  rolled  back,  was 
daubing  the  canoe  with  pitch,  and  the  others 
were  busy  at  the  fire,  when  a  war  whoop,  fol- 
lowed by  continuous  yelling,  echoed  from  forest 
to  forest,  and  a  hundred  and  twenty  naked  Sioux 
or  Dacotali  Indians  sprang  out  of  boats  to  seize 
them.  It  v/as  no  use  for  Father  Hennepin  to 
show  a  peace-pipe  or  offer  fine  tobacco.  The 
Frenchmen  were  prisoners.     And  when   these 


78 


lldi'oes  of  the  Middle    West. 


savages  Iciinu'd  by  questioning  witli  signs,  and 
])y  drawing  on  the  sand  with  a  stick,  that  tlie 
Miamis,  whom  ihey  were  pursuing  to  light,  were 

far  eastward  out  of 
then*  reach,  three  or 
four  old  warriors  hiid 
their  hands  on  Hen- 
nepin's shaven  crown 
and  began  to  cry  and 
howl  like  little  Ijoys. 
The  friar  in  his 
Jong  gray  capote  or 
hooded  garment, 
which  fell  to  his  feet, 
girt  about  the  waist 
by  a  rope  called  the  cord  of  St.  Francis,  stood, 
with  bare  toes  showing  on  his  sandals,  inclin- 
ing his  fat  head  with  sympathy.  He  took  out 
his  handkerchief  and  wiped  the  old  men's  faces. 
Du  Gay  and  Ako,  in  spite  of  the  peril,  laughed 
to  see  him  daub  the  war  paint. 

"  The  good  father  hath  no  suspicion  that 
these  old  wretches  are  dooming  him  to  death," 
said  Ako  to  Du  Gay. 

It  appeared  afterwards  that  this  was  what  the 
ceremony  meant.  For  several  days  the  French- 
men, carried  northward  in  their  captors'  boats, 


Totem  of  the  Sioux. 


TIlc    riKlcspah'unj  Normdu.  79 

expected  to  die.  No  ciilimu't  was  smoked  with 
tliem  ;  iind  every  iiiglit  oiu;  of  the  old  cliiel's, 
named  Aciiiipaguetiii,  who  had  lost  a  son  in  war 
and  formed  a  particular  intention  of  taking 
somebody's  scalp  for  solace,  sat  by  the  prisoners 
stroking  tlieni  and  howling  by  the  hour.  One 
night  when  the  Frenchmen  were  forced  to  make 
their  tire  at  the  end  of  the  camp,  A(iuipaguetin 
sent  word  that  he  meant  to  fmisli  them  without 
more  delay.  But  they  gave  him  some  goods 
out  of  the  store  La  Salle  had  sent  with  them, 
and  he  changed  his  mind  and  concluded  to  wait 
awhile.  He  carried  the  bones  of  one  of  his  dead 
rehitions,  dried  and  wrapped  in  skins  gaily  orna- 
mented with  porcupine-quill  work ;  and  it  was 
his  custom  to  lay  these  bones  before  the  tribe  and 
request  that  everybody  blow  smoke  on  them.  Of 
the  Frenchmen,  however,  he  demanded  lialchets, 
beads,  and  cloth.  This  cunning  old  Sioux  wanted 
to  get  all  he  could  before  the  party  reached 
their  villages,  w  here  the  spoil  would  be  divided. 
Nineteen  days  after  their  capture  the  prison- 
ers were  brought  to  a  place  which  is  now  the 
site  of  St.  Paul  in  the  state  of  Minnesota,  where 
the  Sioux  disbanded,  scattering  to  their  separate 
towns.  They  had  finally  smoked  the  peace- 
pipe  with  the  Frenchmen ;  and  now,  fortunately 


80  Heroes  of  the  Middle  West. 

without  disagreement,  portioned  their  white 
captives  and  distributed  the  goods.  Father 
Hennepin  was  given  to  Aqui[)aguetin,  w^ho 
promptly  adopted  him  as  a  son.  The  Flemish 
friar  saw  with  disgust  his  gold-embroidered 
vestments,  which  a  missionary  always  carried 
with  him  for  the  impressive  celebration  of 
mass,  displayed  on  savage  backs  and  greatly 
admired. 

The  explorers  were  really  in  the  way  of  seeing 
as  much  of  the  upper  Mississippi  as  they  could 
desire.  They  were  far  north  of  the  Wisconsin's 
mouth,  where  white  men  first  entered  the  great 
river.  The  young  Mississippi,  clear  as  a  moun- 
tain stream,  gathered  many  small  tributaries. 
St.  Peter's  joined  it  from  a  blue-earth  channel. 
This  rugged  northern  world  was  wonderfully 
beautiful,  with  valleys  and  heights  and  rocks 
and  waterfalls. 

The  Sioux  were  tall,  well-made  Indians,  and 
so  active  that  the  smaller  Frenchmen  could 
hardly  keep  up  with  them  on  the  march.  They 
sometimes  carried  Du  Gay  and  Ako  over  streams, 
but  the  robust  friar  they  forced  to  Avade  or  swim; 
and  when  he  lagged  lame-footed  »"i^.h  exhaus- 
tion across  the  prairies,  they  set  fire  to  grass 
behind  him,  obliging  him  to  take  to  his  lieels 


.     The   Undespau'buj  Norman.  81 

with  them  or  burn.  By  adoption  into  the  f.iniily 
of  Aquipaguetin  lie  had  a  hirge  rehitionship 
thrust  upon  him,  for  the  okl  weeper  had  many 
wives  and  chikh'en  and  other  kindred.  Hen- 
nepin indeed  felt  that  he  was  not  needed  and 
might  at  any  time  be  disposed  of.  He  never 
had  that  confidence  in  his  father  Aquipaguetin 
whicli  a  son  should  repose  in  a  parent. 

He  was  separated  from  Ako  and  Du  Gay, 
who  were  taken  to  other  villages.  By  the  time 
he  reached  father  Aquepaguetin's  house  he  was 
so  exhausted,  and  his  legs,  cut  by  ice  in  the 
streams,  were  so  swouen  that  he  fell  down  on 
a  bear  robe.  The  village  was  on  an  island  in  a 
sheet  of  water  afterwards  called  Lake  Buade. 
Hennepin  was  kindly  received  by  his  new  family, 
who  fed  him  as  well  as  they  were  able,  for  the 
Sioux  had  little  food  when  they  were  not  hunt-- 
ing.  Seeing  him  so  feeble,  they  gave  him  an 
Indian  sweating  bath,  which  he  found  good  for 
his  health.  They  made  a  lodge  of  skins  so  tight 
that  it  would  hold  heat,  and  put  into  it  stones 
baked  to  a  white  heat.  On  these  they  poured 
water  and  shut  Hennepin  hi  the  steam  until  he 
sweated  freely. 

The  Sioux  had  two  kinds  of  lodges  —  (me 
somewhat  resemblhig  those  of  the  Illinois,  the 


82  Heroes  of  the  Middle  West. 

other  a  cone  of  poles  with  skins  stretched 
around,  called  a  tepee. 

Father  Hennepin  did  little  missionary  work 
among  these  Indians.  He  suffered  much  from 
hunger,  being  a  man  who  loved  good  cheer.  But 
the  tribes  went  on  a  buffalo  hunt  in  July  and 
killed  plenty  of  meat.  All  that  northern  world 
was  then  clothed  in  vivid  verdure.  Honey- 
suckles and  wild  grapevines  made  the  woods 
fragrant.  The  gentian,  which  jealously  closes 
its  blue-fringed  cup  from  the  human  eye,  grew 
close  to  the  lakes.  Captive  though  the  French- 
men were,  they  could  not  help  enjoying  the 
evening  camp-fire  with  its  weird  flickerings 
against  the  dark  of  savage  forests,  the  heat- 
lightning  which  heralded  or  followed  storms, 
the  waters,  clear,  as  if  filtered  through  icebergs, 
dashing  in  foam  over  mossy  rocks. 

They  met  during  the  buffalo  hunt,  and  it 
was  about  this  time  that  some  "  spirits,"  or  white 
men,  were  heard  of,  coming  from  Lake  Superior. 
These  proved  to  be  the  great  ranger  Greysolon 
du  Lhut  and  four  other  Frenchmen. 

This  man,  cousin  to  Tonty,  passed  nearly  his 
whole  life  in  the  woods,  going  from  Indian  town 
to  Indian  town,  or  phjiting  outposts  of  his 
own  in  the  wilderness,     Occasionally  he  went  to 


2Vie   I77i(les]x(irui(/  Korman.  83 

France,  and  the  king's  magnificence  jit  Ver- 
sailles was  endured  by  him  until  he  could  gain 
some  desired  point  from  the  colonial  minister 
and  hurry  back.  Tlie  government  relied  on  him 
to  keep  lawless  coureurs  de  bois  within  bounds, 
and  he  traded  with  nearly  all  the  western  tribes. 
When  Greysolon  du  Lhut  appeared,  the  Sioux 
treated  their  prisoners  with  deference ;  and 
from  that  time  Hennepin,  Du  Gay,  and  Ako 
went  where  they  pleased. 

They  seemed  to  have  had  no  thought  of 
returning  to  Fort  Crevecoeur.  In  those  days 
when  each  man  took  his  individual  life  in  his 
hands  and  guarded  it  in  ways  which  seemed 
best  to  him,  it  was  often  expedient  to  change 
one's  plan  of  action.  About  the  time  that 
Tonty  was  obliged  to  abandon  Fort  Crevecoeur, 
Hennepin  and  his  companions  set  off  eastward 
with  Greysolon  du  Lhut's  party.  Hennepin 
sailed  for  France  as  soon  as  he  could  and  wrote 
a  book  about  his  adventures.  It  was  one  of  La 
Salle's  misfortunes  that  this  friar  should  finally 
even  lay  claim  to  discovering  the  mouth  of  the 
Mississippi,  adding  the  glory  of  that  to  these 
real  adventures  on  its  upper  waters. 

The  first  v)f  March,  La  Salle,  with  a  number 
of  the  men  he  had  gathered,  started  from  Fort 


84  Heroes  of  the  Middle   West. 

Mianiis  to  the  Illinois  country.  The  prairies 
were  one  dazzling  expanse  of  snow,  and  as  the 
party  slid  along  on  the  broad,  flat  snowshoes  to 
which  their  feet  were  strapped,  some  of  them 
were  so  blinded  that  the  pain  in  their  eyes 
became  unendurable.  These  were  obliged  to 
camp  in  the  edge  of  some  woods,  while  the 
rest  went  on. 

La  Salle  himself  was  sitting  in  darkness  while 
the  spring  sun  struck  a  million  sparkles  from  a 
world  yet  locked  in  winter.  The  wind  chilled 
his  back,  and  he  spread  his  hands  to  the  camp 
blaze.  In  the  torment  of  snow-blindness  he 
wondered  whether  Tonty  was  treading  these 
white  wastes,  seeking  him,  or  lying  dead  of 
Indian  wounds  under  the  snow  crust.  The  talk 
of  the  other  snow-blinded  men,  sitting  about 
or  stretched  with  their  feet  to  the  fire,  was  lost 
on  his  ear.  Yet  his  one  faithful  servant,  who 
went  with  him  on  all  his  journeys,  could  not 
see  anything  but  calm  fortitude  on  his  face  as 
he  lifted  it  at  the  approach  of  snowshoes. 

"  I  cannot  see  j^ou,  Hunaut,"  said  La  Salle. 
"  Did  you  find  some  pine  leaves? " 

"  I  found  some,  monsieur." 

"  Steep  them  as  soon  as  you  can  for  the  men's 
eyes." 


The   Undespairinfj  Norman.  85 

"  1  wish  to  tell  you,  monsieur,"  the  man  said 
as  he  went  about  his  task  with  a  snow-filled 
kettle,  "that  I  found  also  a  party  of  Fox  In- 
dians from  Green  Bay,  and  they  gave  me  news 
of  Monsieur  de  Tonty." 

Hunaut  looked  at  the  long,  pale  face  of  his 
master  and  saw  the  under  lip  tremble  and 
twitch. 

"  You  know  I  am  much  bound  to  Monsieur 
de  Tonty.     Is  he  alive  ?  " 

"  He  is  alive,  monsieur.  He  has  been  obliged 
to  pass  the  winter  at  Green  Bay.  Father  Hen- 
nepin has  also  passed  through  that  country  on 
his  way  to  Montreal." 

La  Salle  felt  his  troubles  melt  with  the  un- 
locking of  winter.  The  brief  but  agonizing 
snow-blindness  passed  awa}^  with  a  thaw ;  and, 
overtaking  his  other  men,  he  soon  met  the 
returning  Illinois  tribe  and  began  the  Indian 
settlement  around  the  rock  he  intended  to 
fortify. 

Already  the  Miami  tribe  was  following  him, 
and  he  drew  them  into  an  alliance  with  the  Illi- 
nois, impressively  founding  the  principality  soon 
to  grow  there.  This  eloquent  Norman  French- 
man had  gifts  in  height  and  the  large  bone  and 
sinew  of   Normandy,  which   his    Indian   allies 


86  Heroes  of  the  Middle   West. 

always  admired.  And  he  well  knew  where  to 
impress  his  talk  with  coats,  shirts,  guns,  and 
hunting-knives.  As  his  holdings  of  land  in 
Canada  were  made  his  stepping-stones  toward 
the  west,  so  the  footing  he  gained  at  Fort 
Miamis  and  in  the  Illinois  country  was  to  be 
used  in  discovering  the  real  course  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi and  taking  possession  of  its  vast  basin. 

It  was  the  end  of  May  before  he  met  Tonty 
at  St.  Ignace  ;  Italian  and  Frenchman  coming 
together  with  outstretched  arms  and  embracing. 
Tonty 's  black  eyes  were  full  of  tears,  but  La 
Salle  told  his  reverses  as  calmly  as  if  they  were 
another  man's. 

"Any  one  else,"  said  Father  Membre,  who 
stood  by,  "would  abandon  the  enterprise,  but 
Morsieur  de  la  Salle  has  no  equal  for  constancy 
of  purpose." 

"But  where  is  Father  Ribourde?"  La  Salle 
inquired,  missing  the  other  RecoUet. 

Tonty  told  him  sorrowfully  how  Father  Ri- 
bourde had  gone  into  the  woods  when  his  party 
camped,  after  being  driven  up  river  in  a  leaky 
boat  by  the  Iroquois  ;  how  they  had  waited  and 
searched  for  him,  and  were  finally  made  aware 
that  a  band  of  prowling  Kickapoos  had  mur- 
dered him. 


The   Undespairing  Norman,  87 

Tonty  bad  aimed  at  Green  Bay  by  tbe  Cbi- 
cago  portage,  and  tramped  along  the  west  shore 
of  Lake  Michigan,  having  found  it  impossible 
to  patch  the  boat. 

"  We  were  nearly  starved,"  he  said ;  "  but 
we  found  a  few  ears  of  corn  and  some  frozen 
squashes  in  a  deserted  Indian  town.  When  we 
reached  the  bay  we  found  an  old  canoe  and 
mended  it ;  but  as  soon  as  we  were  on  the  water 
there  rose  a  northwest  wind  with  driving  snow, 
which  lasted  nearly  five  days.  We  ate  all  our 
food,  and,  not  knowing  what  to  do,  turned  back 
to  the  deserted  town  to  die  by  a  warm  fire  in 
one  of  the  wigwams.  On  the  way  the  bay 
froze.  We  camped  to  make  moccasins  out  of 
Father  Membre's  cloak.  I  was  angry  at  Etienne 
Renault  for  not  finishing  his ;  but  he  excused 
himself  on  account  of  illness,  having  a  great 
oppression  of  the  stomach,  caused  by  eating  a 
piece  of  an  Indian  rawhide  shield  which  he 
could  not  digest.  His  delay  proved  our  salva- 
tion, for  the  next  day,  as  I  was  urging  him  to 
finish  the  moccasins,  a  party  of  Ottawas  saw  the 
smoke  of  our  fire  and  came  to  us.  We  gave 
them  such  a  welcome  as  never  was  seen  before. 
They  took  us  into  their  canoes  and  carried  us 
to  an  Indian  village  only  two  leagues  off.     All 


88  IFeroes  of  the  Middle   West 

the  Indians  took  pleasure  in  sending  us  food  ; 
so,  after  thirty-four  days  of  starvation,  we  found 
our  famine  turned  to  abundance." 

Tonty  and  La  Salle,  with  their  followers, 
paddled  the  thousand  miles  to  Fort  Frontenac, 
to  make  another  start  into  the  wilderness. 

La  Salle  was  now  determined  to  keep  his  men 
together.  He  set  down  many  of  his  experiences 
and  thoughts  in  letters  which  have  been  kept ; 
so  we  know  at  this  day  wliat  was  in  the  great 
explorer's  mind,  and  how  dear  he  held  "  Mon- 
sieur de  Tonty,  who  is  full  of  zeal." 

On  his  return  to  the  wilderness  with  another 
equipment,  he  went  around  the  head  of  Lake 
Michigan  and  made  the  short  Chicago  portage 
to  the  Desplaines  River.  Entering  by  this 
branch  the  frozen  Illinois,  they  dragged  their 
canoes  on  sledges  past  the  site  of  the  town  and 
reached  open  water  below  Peoria  Lake.  La 
Salle  gave  up  the  plan  of  building  a  ship,  and 
determined  to  go  on  in  his  canoes  to  the  mouth 
of  the  Mississippi. 

So,  pausing  to  hunt  when  game  was  needed, 
his  company  of  fifty-four  persons  entered  the 
great  river,  saw  the  Missouri  rushing  into  it  — 
muddy  current  and  clear  northern  stream  flow- 
ing alongside  until  the  waters  mingled.     They 


TJie    Undesjjait'iiuj  Xonmin,  89 

met  <and  overjiwed  tlie  Indians  on  both  shores, 
building  several  stockades.  The  broad  river 
seemed  to  fdl  a  valley,  doubling  and  winding 
upon  itself  with  innumerable  curves,  in  its 
solemn  and  lonely  stretches.  Huge  pieces  of 
low-lying  bank  crund)led  and  fell  in  with 
splashes,  for  the  Mississippi  ceaselessly  eats 
away  its  own  shore. 

A  hundred  leagues  below  the  mouth  of  the 
Arkansas  tliey  came  to  a  swamp  on  the  west 
side.  Behind  this  swamp,  they  had  been  told, 
might  be  found  the  Arkansas  tribe's  great  town. 
La  Salle  sent  Tonty  and  Father  Membre,  with 
some  voyageurs,  to  make  friends  with  the 
Indians  and  bring  liim  word  about  the  town. 

Tonty  had  seen  nothing  like  it  in  the  New 
Woi'ld.  The  houses  were  large  and  square,  of 
sun-baked  brick,  with  a  dome  of  canes  overhead. 
The  two  largest  were  the  chief's  house  and  the 
temple.  Doors  were  the  only  openings.  Tonty 
and  the  friar  were  taken  in  where  the  chief  sat 
on  a  bedstead  with  his  squaws,  and  sixty  old 
men,  in  white  mulberry  bark  cloaks,  squatted 
by  with  the  dignity  of  a  council.  The  wives, 
in  order  to  honor  the  sovereign,  yelled. 

The  temple  was  a  place  where  dead  chiefs' 
bones  were  kept.     A  mud  wall  built  around  it 


90  Heroes  of  the  Middle  West. 

was  ornamented  with  skulls.  The  inside  was 
very  rough.  Something  like  an  altar  stood  in 
the  center  of  the  floor ;  and  a  tire  of  logs  was 
kept  hurning  before  it,  and  never  allowed  to  go 
out,  filling  the  place  with  smoke,  and  irritating 
the  eyes  of  two  old  Indians  who  tended  it  in  half 
darkness.  The  Frenchmen  were  not  allowed  to 
look  into  a  secret  place  where  the  temj^le  treasure 
was  kept.  But,  hearing  it  consisted  of  pearls 
and  trinkets,  Tonty  conjectured  the  Indians 
had  got  it  from  the  Spanish.  This  tribe  was 
not  unlike  the  Aztecs  of  Mexico.  The  chief 
came  in  barbaric  grandeur  to  visit  La  Salle, 
dressed  in  white,  having  fans  carried  before 
him,  and  a  plate  of  burnished  copper  to  repre- 
sent the  sun,  for  these  lower  Mississippians 
were  sun-worshipers. 

With  gifts  and  the  grave  consideration  which 
instantly  won  Indians,  La  Salle  moved  from  tribe 
to  tribe  towards  the  Gulf.  Red  River  pulsed 
upon  the  course  like  a  discharging  artery.  The 
sluggish  alligator  woke  from  the  ooze  and  poked 
up  his  snout  at  the  canoes.  "He  is,"  says  a 
quaint  old  writer  who  made  that  journey  after- 
wards, "the  most  frightful  master-fish  that  can 
be  seen.  I  saw  one  that  was  as  large  as  half  a 
hogshead.    There  are  some,  they  say,  as  large  as 


The    UiulesjKiu'nHj  Nonndn. 


\)\ 


a  hogsliead  and  twelve  to  tifteeii  feet  long.  I 
have  no  doubt  they  would  swallow  up  a  man  if 
they  eaught  him." 

In  April  La  Salle  reached  his  goal.  He 
found  that  the  Mississi2)pi  divided  its  current 
into  three  strands 
and  entered  the  Gulf 
through  three  mouths. 
He  separated  his 
party;  La  Salle  took 
the  west  passage,  and 
Tonty  and  another 
lieutenant  the  middle 
and  the  east.  At  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico  they 
came  together  again, 
and  with  solemn  cere- 
monies claimed  for 
Fi'ance  all  the  country 
along  the  great  river's 
entire  length,  and  far  eastward  and  westward, 
calling  it  Louisiana,  in  honor  of  King  Louis 
XIV.  A  metal  plate,  bearing  the  arms  of 
France,  the  king's  name,  and  the  date  of  the 
discovery,  was  fixed  on  a  pillar  in  the  shifting 
soil. 

Hardy  as  he  was,  La  Salle  sometimes  fell  ill 


La  Salle 
at  the  Mouth  of  the  Mississippi. 


\)2  llenx's  of  the  Middle  West. 

from  the  great  exposures  he  endured.  And  more 
than  once  he  was  poisoned  by  some  revengeful 
voyageur.  It  was  not  until  the  December  fol- 
lowing his  discovery  of  the  Mississippi's  mouth 
that  he  realized  his  plan  of  fortifying  the  rock 
on  the  Illinois  River.  He  and  Tonty  delighted 
in  it,  calling  it  Fort  St.  Louis  of  the  Illinois. 
Storehouses  and  quarters  for  a  garrison  rose 
around  its  edges,  protected  by  a  palisade.  A 
windlass  was  rigged  to  draw  water  from  the 
river  below.  On  the  northeast  corner  of  the 
rock  a  low  earthwork  remains  to  this  day. 

Around  this  natural  castle  the  Indian  tribes 
gathered  to  La  Salle,  as  to  a  sovereign, — Miamis, 
Abenakis,  and  Shawanoes,  from  countries  east- 
ward, and  the  Illinois  returned  to  spread  over 
their  beloved  meadow.  Instead  of  one  town, 
many  towns  of  log,  or  rush,  or  bark  lodges 
could  be  seen  from  the  summit  of  the  Rock. 
Years  afterwards  the  French  still  spoke  of  this 
fortress  as  Le  Rocher.  A  little  principality  of 
twenty  thousand  inhabitants,  strong  enough  to 
repel  any  attack  of  the  Iroquois,  thus  helped  to 
guard  it.  La  Salle  meant  to  supply  his  people 
with  goods  and  give  tliem  a  market  for  their 
furs.  At  this  time  he  could  almost  see  the  suc- 
cess of  his  mighty  enterprise  assured ;  he  could 


The   Undespairing  Norman. 


93 


reasonably  count  on  strengthening  his  stockades 
along  tlie  Mississii)pi,  and  on  Imilding  near  its 
mouth  a  city  which  woulci  protect  the  entire 
west  and  give  an  outlet  to  the  undeveloped 
wealth  of  the  continent. 

In  the  flush  of  his  discovery  and  success  La 
S  alle  we  n  1 1  jac  k  wm/m  n 
to  France,  leav- 
ing Tonty  in 
charge  of  the 
Rock  and  the 
gathering  In- 
dian nations, 
and  laid  his 
actual  achieve- 
ments before 
the  king,  ask- 
ing for  help. 
This  was  made 
necessary  by 
the  change  in 
the  colonial 
government, 
which  had  re- 
moved his  friend  Count  Frontenac  and  left  him 
at  the  mercy  of  enemies. 

The  king  was  not  slow  to  see  the  capacity  of 


Louis  XIV.,  King  of  France. 


94  Heroes  of  the  Middle  West. 

this  wonderful  man,  so  shy  of  civilization  that 
he  lodged  in  a  poor  street,  carrying  with  him 
the  very  breath  of  the  wilderness.  La  Salle 
asked  for  two  ships ;  the  king  gave  him  four ; 
and  many  people  and  supplies  were  gathered  to 
colonize  and  stock  the  west. 

It  was  La  Salle's  intention  to  sail  by  way  of 
the  West  Lidies,  cross  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and 
enter  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi.  But  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico  is  rimmed  with  low  marshy 
land,  and  he  had  never  seen  the  mouth  of  the 
Mississippi  from  seaAvard.  His  unfamiliarity 
with  the  coast,  or  night,  or  fog  cheated  him  of 
his  destination,  and  the  colony  was  landed  four 
hundred  miles  west  of  it,  in  a  place  called  Mata- 
gorda Bay,  in  Texas,  which  then  belonged  to 
the  Spaniards.  Although  at  the  time  of  dis- 
covery he  had  taken  the  latitude  of  that  exact 
spot  where  he  set  the  post,  he  had  been  unable 
to  determine  the  longitude ;  any  lagoon  might 
be  an  opening  of  the  triple  mouth  he  sought. 

La  Salle's  brother,  a  priest,  who  sailed  with 
him  on  this  voyage,  testified  afterwards  that 
the  explorer  died  believing  he  was  near  the 
nioutli  of  the  Mississippi.  Whatever  may  have 
been  his  thoughts,  the  undcspairing  Norman 
grappled  with  his   troubles  in   the  usual  way. 


The   UndesjKiirmg  Norman.  95 

One  of  his  vessels  had  been  captured  b}^  the 
Spanish.  Another  had  been  wrecked  in  the 
bay  by  seamen  who  were  willing  to  injure  him. 
These  contained  supplies  most  needed  for  the 
colony.  The  third  sailed  away  and  left  him  ; 
and  his  own  little  ship,  a  gift  of  the  king  for 
his  use  along  the  coast,  was  sunk  by  careless 
men  while  he  was  absent  searching  northward 
for  the  Mississippi. 

Many  of  the  colonists  fell  sick  and  died.  Men 
turned  sullen  and  tried  to  desert.  Some  went 
hunting  and  were  never  seen  again.  Indians, 
who  dare  not  openly  attack,  skulked  near  and 
set  the  prairie  on  fire ;  and  that  was  a  sight  of 
magnificence,  the  earth  seeming  to  burn  like  a 
furnace,  or,  far  as  the  eye  could  follow  them, 
billows  of  flame  rushing  as  across  a  fire  sea. 
But  La  Salle  was  wise,  and  cut  the  grass  close 
around  his  powder  and  camp. 

Water,  plains,  trees  combined  endlessly,  like 
the  pieces  of  a  kaleidoscope,  to  confuse  him  in 
his  search.  Tonty  was  not  at  hand  to  take  care 
of  the  colony  while  he  groped  for  the  lost  river. 
He  moved  his  wretched  ])e()i)le  from  their  camp, 
with  all  goods  snveo  oft"  the  wreck  in  the  bay, 
to  a  better  site  for  a  temi)()rary  fort,  on  rising 
ground.     The  carpenters  proved  good  for  noth- 


DO 


Heroes  of  the  Middle  West. 


iiig.  La  Salle  liiiiiself  planned  liuildiiigs  and 
marked  out  mortises  on  the  logs.  First  a  large 
house  roofed  with  hides,  and  divided  into  apart- 
ments, was    finished    to   shelter    all.     Separate 


Lii  Salle's  Map  of  Texas. 

houses  were  afterwards  built  for  the  women  and 
girls,  and  barracks  or  rougher  cells  for  the  men. 
A  little  chapel  was  finally  added.  And  when 
high-pointed  palisades  surrounded  the  whole, 
La  Salle,  perhaps  thinking  of  his  invhicible  rock 


The    Undespalring  Norman.  97 

• 

on  the  Illinois  and  the  faithfulness  of  his  copper- 
handed  lieutenant  guarding  it,  called  this  out- 
post also  Fort  St.  Louis.  Cannon  were  mounted 
at  the  four  corners  of  the  large  house.  As  the 
halls  were  lost,  they  were  loaded  with  bullets 
in  bags. 

Behind,  the  prairies  stretched  away  to  forests. 
In  front  rolled  the  bay,  with  the  restless  ever- 
heaving  niotioxi  of  the  Mexican  Gulf.  A  deli- 
cious salty  air,  like  the  breath  of  perpetual  spring, 
blew  in,  tingling  the  skin  of  the  sulkiest  adven- 
turer with  delight  in  this  virgin  world.  Fierce 
northers  must  beat  upon  the  colonists,  and  the 
languors  of  summer  must  in  time  follow  ;  and 
they  were  homesick,  always  watching  for  sails. 
Yet  they  had  no  lack  of  food.  Oysters  were 
so  plentiful  in  the  l)ay  that  they  could  not 
wade  without  cutting  their  feet  with  the  shells. 
Though  the  alligator  pushed  his  ugly  snout  and 
ridgy  back  out  of  lagoons,  and  horned  frogs 
frightened  the  children,  and  the  rattlesnake  was 
to  be  avoided  where  it  lay  coiled  in  the  grass, 
game  of  all  kinds  abounded.  Every  man  was 
obliged  to  hunt,  and  every  woman  and  child  to 
help  smoke  the  meat.  Even  the  priests  took  guns 
in  their  hands.  Father  Membre  liad  brought 
some  buffalo  traditions  from  the  Illinois  coun- 


98  Heroes  of  the  Middle  West. 

try.  H(3  was  of  Father  Hi'iiiu'[)iifs  oi)iiii()ii  that 
this  wild  creature  might  he  trained  to  draw  the 
plow,  and  he  had  faith  that  henevolence  was 
concealed  behind  its  wicked  eyes. 

As  Father  Menihre  stalked  along  the  prairie 
witli  the  hunters,  his  capote  tucked  \\\s  out  of 
his  way  on  its  cord,  one  of  the  men  shot  a  buf- 
falo and  it  dropped.  The  buffaloes  rarely  fell 
at  once,  even  when  wounded  to  death,  unless 
hit  in  the  spine.  Father  IVIembre  approached 
it  curiously. 

"  Come  back.  Father  !  "  shouted  the  hunters. 

Father  Membre  touched  it  gently  with  his 
gun. 

'■Run,  Father,  run  !"  cried  tlie  hunters. 

"It  is  dead,"  asserted  Father  Membre.  "1 
will  rest  my  gun  across  its  carcass  to  steady  my 
aim  at  the  other  buffaloes." 

He  knelt  to  rest  his  gun  across  its  back. 

The  great  beast  heaved  convulsively  to  its 
feet  and  made  a  dash  at  the  RecoUet.  It  sent 
him  revolving  heels  over  head.  But  Father 
Membre  got  up,  and,  spreading  his  capote  in 
both  hands,  danced  in  front  of  the  buffalo  to 
head  it  off  from  escaping.  At  that,  with  a 
bellow,  the  shaggy  creature  charged  over  him 
across   the  prairie,  dropping    to    its  knees  and 


The   Undespairing  y^orman.  99 

dying  before  the  frightened  hnnters  could  lift 
the  fritir  from  the  ground. 

"Are  you  hurt,  Father?"  they  all  asked,  sup- 
porting him,  and  finding  it  impossible  to  keep 
from  laughing  as  he  sat  up,  with  his  reverend 
face  skinned  and  his  capote  nearly  torn  off. 

"  Not  unto  death,"  responded  Father  Membre, 
brushing  grass  and  dirty  hoof  prints  from  his 
garment.  "But  it  hath  been  greatly  imjjressed 
on  my  mind  that  tliis  ox-savage  is  no  fit  Ijeast 
for  the  plow.  Nor  will  I  longer  counsel  our 
women  to  coax  tlie  wild  cows  to  a  milknig.  It 
is  well  to  adapt  to  our  needs  the  beasts  of  a 
country,"  said  Fallier  Membre,  wiping  blood 
from  his  face.  "  But  this  buffalo  creature  hath 
disappointed  me  I " 

La  Salle  was  prostrated  through  the  month 
of  November.  But  by  Christmas  he  wius  able  to 
set  out  on  a  final  search  from  which  he  did  not 
intend  to  return  until  he  found  the  Mississippi. 
All  hands  in  the  fort  were  busied  on  the  outfit 
necessary  for  the  party.  Clothes  were  made  of, 
sails  recovered  from  one  of  the  wrecked  vessels, 
l^ighteen  juen  were  to  follow  La  Salle,  among 
them  his  elder  brother,  the  Abbe  Cavelier.  Some 
had  on  the  remains  of  garments  tliey  had  worn 
in  France,  and  others  were  dressed  in  deer  or 


100  Heroes  of  the  Middle  West 

buffalo  skins.     He  liad   ])()Uolit  five  horses  of 
the  Indians  to  cany  the  baggage. 

At  nii(hiight  on  Christnuui  Eve  everybody 
crowded  into  the  small  fortress  chapel.  The 
priests,  celebrating  mass,  moved  before  the  altar 
ill  such  gold-embroidered  vestments  a^s  they  had, 
and  the  liglit  of  torches  illuminated  the  rough 
log  walls.  Those  who  were  to  stay  and  keep 
the  outpost,  literally  lost  in  the  wilderness,  were 
on  their  knees  weeping.  Those  who  were  to  go 
knelt  also,  with  the  dread  of  an  awful  uncer- 
tainty in  their  minds.  The  faithful  ones  foresaw 
\/orse  than  peril  from  forests  and  waters  and 
savages,  for  La  Salle  could  not  leave  behind  all 
the  villains  with  whom  he  was  obliged  to  serve 
himself.  He  alone  showed  the  composure  of  a 
man  who  never  despairs.  If  he  had  positively 
known  that  he  was  setting  out  upon  a  fatal 
journey,  —  that  he  was  undertaking  his  last 
march  through  the  wilderness,  —  the  mass  lights 
would  still  have  shown  the  firm  face  of  a  man 
who  did  not  turn  back  from  any  enterprise. 
The  very  existence  of  these  people  who  had 
come  out  to  the  New  World  with  him  depended 
on  his  success.  Whatever  lay  in  the  road  he 
had  to  encounter  it.  The  most  splendid  lives 
may  progress   and   end  through  what  we  call 


The   Undespairing  Novman.  101 

tragedy;  but  it  is  better  to  die  in  the  very 
stress  of  achievement  than  to  stretch  a  poor 
existence  through  a  century.  The  contagion 
of  his  liardihood  stole  out  like  the  Christmas 
incense  and  spread  through  the  chapel. 


V. 

FRENCH  SETTLEMENTS. 

"  It  was  the  establishment  of  militaiy  posts 
throiigliout  tliis  vast  valley  that  eventually 
brought  on  a  life  struggle  between  the  English 
and  tlie  French,"  says  a  liistorian. 

At  first  the  only  spot  of  civilization  in  bound- 
less wilderness  was  Tonty's  little  fort  on  the 
Illinois.  Protected  by  it,  the  Indians  went 
hunting  and  brought  in  buffalo  skins  and  meat ; 
their  women  planted  and  reaped  maize  ;  children 
were  born  ;  days  came  and  went;  autumn  haze 
made  the  distances  pearly ;  winter  snow  lay 
on  the  wigwams ;  men  ran  on  snowshoes ;  and 
papooses  shouted  on  the  frozen  river.  Still 
no  news  came  from  La  Salle. 

Tonty  had  made  a  journey  to  the  mouth  of 
the  Mississippi  to  meet  him,  after  he  landed 
with  his  colony,  searching  thirty  leagues  in 
each  direction  along  the  coast.  La  Salle  was 
at  that  time  groping  through  a  maze  of  lagoons 
in  Texas.  Tonty,  with  his  men,  waded  swamps 
to  their  necks,  enduring  more   suffering  than 

102 


MAP  OF   THE   FRENCH   SETTLEMENTS. 


French  Settlemeriis.  103 

he  had  ever  endured  in  his  life  before.  Tliis 
was  in  February  of  the  year  1G80.  Finding 
it  impossible  to  reach  La  Salle,  who  must  be 
wandering  somewhere  on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico, 
Tonty  wrote  a  letter  to  him,  intrusting  it  to  the 
hands  of  an  Indian  chief,  with  directions  that  it 
be  delivered  when  the  explorer  appeared.  He 
also  left  a  couple  of  men  who  were  willing  to 
wait  in  the  Arkansas  villages  to  meet  La  Salle. 

Two  years  passed  before  those  men  brought 
positive  proof  of  the  undespairing  Norman's 
fate.  The  remnant  of  the  party  tliat  started 
with  La  Salle  from  Fort  St.  Louis  of  Texas 
spent  one  winter  at  Fort  St.  Louis  of  the 
Illinois,  bringing  word  that  they  had  left  their 
leader  in  good  health  on  the  coast.  The  Abbe 
Cavelier  even  collected  furs  in  his  brother's 
name,  and  went  on  to  France,  carrying  his 
secret  Avitli  him. 

La  Salle  had  been  assassinated  on  the  Trinity 
River,  soon  after  setting  out  on  his  last  deter- 
mined search  for  the  Mississippi.  The  eight- 
eenth day  of  March,  1687,  some  of  his  brutal 
voyageurs  hid  themselves  in  bushes  and  shot 
him. 

So  slowly  did  events  move  then,  and  so 
powerless  was  man,  an  atom  in  the  wilderness, 


104  Heroes  of  the  Middle  West. 

that  the  great-hearted  Italian,  weeping  aloud 
in  rage  and  grief,  realized  that  La  Salle's  bones 
had  been  bleaching  a  year  and  a  half  before  the 
news  of  his  death  reached  his  lieutenant.  It 
was  not  known  that  La  Salle  received  burial. 
The  wretches  who  assassinated  him  threw  him 
into  some  brush.  It  was  a  satisfaction  to  Tonty 
that  they  all  perished  miserably  afterwards  ; 
those  who  survived  quarrels  among  themselves 
being  killed  by  the  Indians. 

The  undespairing  Norman  died  instantly, 
without  feeling  or  admitting  defeat.  And  he 
was  not  defeated.  Though  his  colony  —  includ- 
ing Father  Membr^,  who  had  been  so  long  with 
him  —  perished  by  the  hands  of  the  Indians  in 
Texas,  in  spite  of  Tonty's  second  journey  to 
relieve  them,  his  plan  of  settlements  from  the 
great  lakes  to  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi 
became  a  reality. -t^ 

Down  from  Canada  came  two  of  the  eleven 
Le  Moyne  brothers,  DTberville  and  Bienville, 
fine  fighting  sons  of  a  powerful  colonial  family, 
with  royal  permission  to  found  near  the  great 
river's  mouth  that  city  which  had  been  La 
Salle's  dream.  Fourteen  years  after  La  Salle's 
death,  while  D' Iberville  was  exploring  for  a 
site,  the  old  chief,  to  whom  Tonty  had  given  a 


French  Settlements.  105 

letter  for  La  Salle,  brouglit  it  carefully  wrapped 
and  delivered  it  into  the  hands  of  La  Salle's 
more  fortunate  successor. 

Tonty  was  associated  with  Le  Moyne  D'lber- 
ville  in  these  labors  around  the  Gulf. 

Autograph  of  Le  Moyne  D'Iberville. 

A  long  peninsula  betwixt  the  Mississippi  and 
Kaskaskia  Rivers,  known  since  as  the  American 
Bottom,  lured  away  Indians  from  the  great  town 
on  the  Illinois.  The  new  settlement  founded 
on  this  peninsula  was  called  Kaskaskia,  for  one 
of  the  tribes.  As  other  posts  sprung  into  ex- 
istence. Fort  St.  Louis  was  less  needed.  "As 
early  as  1712,"  we  are  told,  "land  titles  were 
issued  for  a  common  field  in  Kaskaskia.  Traders 
had  already  opened  a  conunerce  in  skins  and 
furs  with  the  remote  post  of  Isle  Dauphine  in 
Mobile  Bay."  Settlements  were  firmly  estal> 
lished.  By  1720  the  luxuries  of  Europe  came 
into  the  great  tract  taken  by  La  Salle  in  the 
name  of  King  Louis  and  called  Louisiana. 

Twelve  years  after  La  Salle's  death  a  mis- 
sionary named  St.  Cosme  (Sant'  Come)  journeyed 


106  Ileroen  of  the  Middle  Wtst. 

truiii  Ciuitida  in  a  party  guided  l>y  Ton ty.  St. 
Cosme  has  left  tliis  record  of  the  man  with  the 
cop})i'r  liand  :  — 

"lie  guided  us  as  far  as  the  Arkansas  and 
gave  us  much  pleasure  on  the  way,  winning 
friendship  of  some  savages  and  intimidating 
others  who  from  jealousy  or  desire  to  plunder 
opposed  the  voyage ;  not  only  doing  the  duty 
of  a  brave  man  Imt  that  of  a  missionary.  He 
(piietcd  the  voyageurs,  by  wliom  he  was  gener- 
ally loved,  and  supported  us  ])y  his  example  in 
devotion." 

On  the  Cliicago  portage  a  little  boy,  given 
to  the  missionary  perhaps  because  lie  ^vas  an 
orphan  and  the  western  country  offered  him 
the  best  chances  in  life,  started  eagerly  aliead, 
though  he  was  told  to  wait.  Tlie  rest  of  the 
party,  having  goods  and  canoes  to  carr^^  from  the 
Chicago  Uiver  to  the  I)esi)laines,  lost  sight  of 
him,  and  lie  was  never  seen  again.  Autumn 
grass  gi'cw  tall  over  the  marshy  portage,  but 
they  dared  not  set  it  afire,  though  his  fate  was 
doubtless  hidden  in  that  grass.  The  party 
divided  and  searched  for  him,  calling  and  firing 
guns.  Three  days  they  searched,  and  daring  to 
wait  no  longer,  for  it  was  November  and  the 
river  read}*  to  glaze  with  ice,  they  left  him  to 


French   Settlement,^.  107 

sonic  French  people  at  the  post  of  Chicago. 
But  the  child  was  not  found.  IJe  disappeared 
and  no  one  ever  knew  what  became  of  him. 

Like  this  is  Henri  dc  Tonty's  disap})earance 
from  history.  The  records  show  him  working 
with  Le  Moyne  D' Iberville  and  Le  Moyne  de 
Bienville  to  found  New  Orleans  and  Mobile, 
pushing  the  enterprises  which  La  Salle  had 
begun.  He  has  been  blamed  with  the  misbe- 
havior of  a  relative  of  his,  Alj[)honse  de  Tonty, 
who  got  into  disgrace  at  the  post  of  Detroit. 
Little  justice  has  been  done  to  the  memory  of 
this  man,  who  should  not  be  forgotten  in  the 
west.  So  quietly  did  he  slip  out  of  life  that  his 
burial  place  is  unknown.  Some  peoi)le  believe 
that  he  came  back  to  the  Rock  Ion  or  after  its 
buildings  were  dismantled  and  it  had  ceased  to 
be  Fort  St.  Louis  of  the  Illinois.  Others  say 
he  died  in  Mobile.  But  it  is  prol)able  that  both 
La  Salle  and  Tonty  left  their  bodies  to  the 
wilderness  which  their  invincible  spirits  had 
conquered. 

After  the  settlement  of  Kaskaskia  a  strong 
fortress  was  built  sixteen  miles  above,  on  the 
same  side  of  the  Mississippi.  The  king  of  France 
spent  a  million  crowns  strengthening  this  place, 
which  was  called  Fort  Chartres.     Its  massive 


108  Heroes  of  the  Middle  West,  ' 

walls,  inclosing  four  acres,  and  its  buildings  and 
arched  gateway  were  like  some  medieval  strong- 
liold  strangely  transplanted  from  the  Old  World. 
White  uniformed  troops  paraded.  A  village 
sprang  up  around  it.  Fort  Chartres  was  the 
center  of  government  until  Kaskaskia  became 
the  first  capital  of  the  Illinois  territory.  Appli- 
cations for  land  had  to  be  made  at  this  post. 
Indians  on  the  Mississippi,  for  it  was  a  little 
distance  from  the  shore,  heard  drumbeat  and 
sunset  gun,  and  were  proud  of  going  in  and 
out  of  its  mighty  gateway  under  the  white  flag 
of  France. 

Other  villages  began  on  the  eastern  bank  of 
the  river — Cahokia,  opposite  the  present  city 
of  St.  Louis,  and  Prairie  du  llochei-,  nearer 
Kaskaskia.  Ste.  Genevieve  also  was  l)uilt  in 
what  is  now  the  state  of  Missouri,  on  land  which 
then  was  claimed  by  the  S])aniards.  There  was 
a  Post  of  Natchitoches  on  the  Red  River,  as  well 
as  a  Post  of  Washita  on  the  Washita  River. 
Settlements  were  also  founded  upon  La  Fourche 
and  Fausse  Riviere  above  New  Orleans. 

"  The  finest  country  we  have  seen,"  wrote 
one  of  the  adventurers  in  those  days,  "is  all 
from  Chicago  to  the  Tamaroas.  It  is  nothing 
but  prairie  and  clumps  of  wood  as  far  as  you 


French   Settlements.  109 

can  see.  The  Tamaroas  are  eight  leagues  from 
the  Illinois."  Chicago  was  a  landing  place 
and  portage  from  the  great  lakes  long  before 
a  stockade  with  a  blockhouse  was  built  called 
Fort  Dearborn. 

"Mon jolly,"  Avrote  the  same  adventurer,  "or 
Mount  Jolliet,  is  a  mound  of  earth  on  the  prairie 
on  the  riglit  side  of  the  Illinois  Kiver  as  you  go 
down,  elevated  about  thirty  feet.  The  Indians 
say  at  the  time  of  the  great  deluge  one  of  their 
ancestors  escaped,  and  this  little  mountain  is 
his  canoe  which  he  turned  over  there." 

La  Salle  had  learned  from  the  Iroquois  about 
the  Ohio  River.  But  the  region  through  which 
it  flowed  to  the  Mississippi  remained  for  a  long 
while  an  unbroken  ^^•ilderness.  The  English 
settlements  on  their  strip  of  Atlantic  coast, 
however,  and  the  French  settlements  in  the 
west,  reached  gradually  out  over  this  territory 
and  met  and  gra[)pled.  Whichever  power  got 
and  kept  the  mastery  of  the  west  would  get 
the  mastery  of  the  continent. 

Tlie  territory  of  Kentucky,  like  that  of 
Michigan,  was  owned  by  no  tribe  of  Indians. 
"  It  was  the  common  hunting  and  fighting 
ground  of  Ohio  tribes  on  the  north  and  Chero- 
kees  and  Chickasaws  on  the  south." 


110  Heroes  of  the  Middle  West. 

There  was  indeed  one  exception  to  tlie  unin- 
liabited  state  of  all  tliat  land  stretcliing  betwixt 
the  Alleglianies  and  the  Mississi2)pi.  Vincennes, 
now  a  town  of  Indiana,  was,  after  Kaskaskia, 
the  oldest  place  in  the  west.  This  isolated  post 
is  said  to  have  been  founded  by  French  sol- 
diers and  emigrants.  Five  thousand  acres  were 
devoted  to  tlie  common  field.  l)e  Vincennes, 
for  whom  it  was  named,  was  a  nephew  of  Louis 
Jolliet.  And  while  it  is  not  at  all  certain  that 
he  founded  the  post,  he  doubtless  sojourned 
there  in  the  Indiana  country  during  his  roving 
life.  A  small  stockade  on  the  site  of  the  town 
of  Fort  Wayne  is  said  to  have  been  built  by 
him. 

French  settlements  began  to  extend  south- 
ward from  Lake  Erie  to  the  head  waters  of 
the  Ohio,  like  a  chain  to  check  the  English. 
Presqu'Isle,  now  Erie,  Pennsylvania,  was  founded 
about  the  same  time  as  Vincennes. 

A  French  settler  built  his  house  in  an  inclo- 
sure  of  two  or  three  acres.  The  unvarying 
model  was  one  story  high,  with  2:)orches  or 
galleries  surrounding  it.  Wooden  walls  were 
filled  and  daubed  with  a  solid  mass  of  what  was 
called  cat-and-clay,  a  mixture  of  mortar  and 
chopped  straw  or  Spanish  moss.     The  chimney 


French  SeMlcments.  Ill 

was  of  the  same  materials,  shaped  l)y  four  h)ng 
corner  posts,  wide  apart  below,  and  nearer 
together  at  the  top. 

As  fast  as  children  grew  up  and  married  they 
built  their  cottages  in  their  father's  yard;  and 
so  it  went  on,  until  with  children  and  grand- 
children and  great-grandchildren,  a  small  vil- 
lage accunuilated  around  one  old  couple. 

The  French  were  not  anxious  to  obtain  grants 
of  the  rich  wild  land.  Every  settlement  had 
its  common  field,  large  or  small,  as  was  desired. 
A  portion  of  this  Held  was  given  to  each  person 
in  the  village  for  his  own,  and  he  was  obliged 
to  cultivate  it  and  raise  food  for  his  family.  If 
a  man  neglected  his  ground,  it  was  taken  from 
him.  A  large  tract  of  land  called  the  connnon 
pasture  Avas  also  inclosed  for  everybody's  cattle 
to  graze  in. 

Sometimes  houses  were  set  facing  one  court, 
or  center,  like  a  camp,  for  defense.  But  gener- 
ally the  French  had  little  trouble  with  their 
savage  neighbors,  who  took  very  kindly  to 
them.  The  storv  of  western  settlement  is  "not 
that  dreadful  story  of  continual  wars  with 
Indians  which  reddens  the  pages  of  eastern 
colonies.  The  French  were  gay  [)eople.  They 
loved  to  dance  and  hunt  and  spend  their  time 


112  Heroes  of  the  Middle  West 

in  amuseiDcnts.  While  the  serious,  stul)born 
English  were  grubbing  out  the  foundations  of 
great  states  on  the  Atlantic  coast,  it  must  be 
confessed  these  happy  folks  cared  little  about 
developing  the  rich  Mississippi  valley. 

During  all  its  eaily  occupation  this  hospitable 
land  abounded  with  game.  Though  in  November 
the  buffaloes  became  so  lean  that  only  their 
tongues  were  eaten,  swans,  geese,  and  ducks 
were  always  plentiful,  and  the  fish  could  not 
be  exhausted. 

On  a  day  in  February,  people  from  Kaskaskia 
hurried  over  the  road  which  then  stretched  a 
league  to  the  Mississippi,  for  the  town  was  on 
the  Kaskaskia  River  bank.  There  were  settlers 
in  blanket  capotes,  shaped  like  friars'  frocks, 
with  hoods  to  draw  over  their  heads.  If  it  had 
been  June  instead  of  February,  a  blue  or  red 
kerchief  would  have  covered  the  men's  heads. 
The  dress  of  an  ordinary  frontiersman  in  those 
days  consisted  of  shirt,  breech-cloth,  and  buck- 
skin leggins,  with  moccasins,  and  neips,  or  strips 
of  blanket  wrapped  around  the  feet  for  stock- 
ings. Tlie  voyageur  so  equipi)ed  could  under- 
take any  hardship.  But  in  the  settlements 
wooden  shoes  were  worn  instead  of  moccasins, 
and  garments  of  texture  lighter  than  buckskin. 


French  Settlements.  113 

The  women  wore  short  gowns,  or  long,  full 
jackets,  and  petticoats;  and  their  moccasins 
were  like  those  of  squaws,  ornamented  with 
heautiful  quill-work.  Their  outer  wraps  were 
not  unlike  the  men's ;  so  a  multitude  of  blanket 
capotes  flocked  toward  the  Mississippi  bank, 
which  at  that  time  had  not  been  washed  away, 
and  rose  steeply  ahove  tlie  water.  'J'hey  had 
all  run  to  see  a  i)rocession  of  boats  pass  by  from 
Fort  Chartres. 

A  little  negro  had  brought  the  news  that  the 
boats  were  in  sight.  Black  slaves  were  owned 
by  some  of  the  French ;  and  Indian  slaves,  sold 
by  their  captors  to  the  settlers,  had  long  been 
members  of  these  patriarchal  liouseholds.  Many 
of  tliem  had  left  their  work  to  follow  their  mas- 
ters to  the  river ;  the  negroes  pointing  and  shout- 
ing, the  Indians  standing  motionless  and  silent. 

The  sun  flecked  a  broad  expanse  of  water, 
and  down  this  shining  track  rushed  a  fleet  of 
canoes;  white  uniforms  leading,  and  brick-col- 
ored heads  above  dusky-fringed  buckskins  fol- 
lowing close  after.  Thi^  little  army  waved 
their  hands  and  fired  guns  to  salute  the  crowd 
on  shore.  The  crowd  all  jangled  voices  in  ex- 
cited talk,  no  man  listening  to  what  another 
said. 


114  Heroes  of  the  Middle  West, 

"See  you — tliei'o  are  Moiisiuiii-  Pierre  D'Arta- 
guette  and  the  Chevalier  I)e  Vinceiiiies  and 
excellent  Father  Senat  in  the  first  boat." 

"The  young  St.  Ange  and  Sieur  Lalande 
follow  them." 

"  How  many  of  our  good  Indians  have  thrown 
themselves  into  this  exixidition !  The  Chicka- 
saw nation  may  howl  when  they  see  this  array  ! 
They  will  be  taught  to  leave  the  boats  from  New 
Orleans  alone  !" 

"  But  suppose  Sieur  De  Bienville  and  his  army 
do  not  meet  the  Commandant  D' Artaguette  when 
he  reaches  the  Chickasaw  country?" 

"  During  his  two  years  at  Fort  Chartres  has 
Sieur  D'Artaguette  made  mistakes?  The  expe- 
dition will  succeed." 

"  The  saints  keep  that  beautiful  boy  !  —  for 
to  look  at  him,  though  he  is  so  hardy,  Monsieur 
Pierre  D'Artaguette  is  as  handsome  as  a  woman. 
I  have  heard  the  southern  tribes  sacrifice  their 
own  children  to  the  sun.  This  is  a  fair  company 
of  Christians  to  venture  against  such  devils." 

The  Chickasaws,  occupying  a  tract  of  coun- 
try now  stretching  across  northern  Mississippi 
and  western  Tennessee,  were  friendly  to  the 
English  and  willing  to  encroach  on  the  French. 
They   interrupted   river   traffic   and    practiced 


French  Settlements.  115 

every  cruelty  on  their  prisoners.  D'Artaguette 
knew  as  well  as  the  early  explorers  that  in  deal- 
ing witli  savages  it  is  a  fatal  policy  to  overlook 
or  excuse  tlieir  ill-behavior.  They  themselves 
believed  in  exact  revenge,  and  despised  a  foe 
who  did  not  strike  back,  their  insolence  becom- 
ing boundless  if  not 
curbed.  So  he  had 
p  1  a  n  n  e  d  with  Le 
Moyne  de  Bienville 
a  concerted  attack  on 

,T  •,,.  r     ji  Autograph  of  Bienville. 

these   allies   oi    the 

English,     Bienville,  bringing  troops  up  river 

from  New  Orleans,  was  to  meet  him  in  the 

Chickasaw  country  on  a  day  and  spot  carefully 

specified. 

The  brilliant  pageant  of  canoes  went  on 
down  the  river,  seeming  to  grow  smaller,  until 
it  dwindled  to  nothingness  in  the  distance. 

But  in  the  course  of  weeks  only  a  few  men 
came  back,  sent  by  the  Chickasaws,  to  tell 
about  the  fate  of  their  leaders.  The  troops 
from  New  Orleans  di  1  not  keep  the  appoint- 
ment, arriving  too  late  and  then  retreating. 
D'Artaguette,  urged  by  his  Indians,  made  the 
attack  with  such  force  as  he  had,  and  liis  brave 
array  was  destroyed.      He  and  the   Chevalier 


116  Heroes  of  the  Middle    West. 

Vincennes,  with  Laland,  Father  Senat,  and 
many  others,  a  circle  of  noble  human  torches, 
perished  at  the  stake.  People  lamented  aloud 
in  Kaskaskia  and  Cahokia  streets,  and  the  white 
flag  of  France  slipped  down  to  half-mast  on 
Fort  Chartres. 

This  victory  made  the  Chickasaw  Indians  so 
bold  that  scarcely  a  French  convoy  on  the  river 
escaped  them.  There  is  a  story  that  a  young 
girl  reached  the  gate  of  Fort  Chartres,  starving 
and  in  rags,  from  wandering  through  swamps 
and  woods.  She  was  the  last  of  a  family  arrived 
from  France,  and  sought  her  sister,  an  officer's 
wife,  in  the  fort.  The  Chickasaws  had  killed 
every  other  relative;  she,  escaping  alone,  was 
ready  to  die  of  exposure  when  she  saw  the  flag 
through  the  trees. 

But  another  captain  of  Fort  Chartres,  no 
bolder  than  young  Pier-"  D'Artaguette,  but 
more  fortunate,  named  Neyon  de  Villiers,  twenty 
years  afterwards  led  troops  as  far  east  ♦as  the 
present  state  of  Pennsylvania,  and  helped  his 
brother,  Coulon  de  Villiers,  continue  the  strug- 
gle betwixt  French  and  English  by  defeating, 
at  Fort  Necessity,  the  English  commanded  by 
a  young  Virginia  officer  named  George  Wash- 
ington. \ 


!^^:; 


VI. 

THE  LAST  GREAT  INDIAN. 

The  sound  of  the  Indian  drum  was  heard  on 
Detroit  River,  and  humid  May  night  air  carried 
it  a  league  or  more  to  the  fort.  All  the  Potta- 
watomies  and  Wyandots  were  gathered  from 
their  own  villages  on  opposite  shores  to  the  Ot- 
tawas  on  the  south  bank,  facing  Isle  Cochon. 
Their  women  and  children  squatted  about  huge 
fires  to  see  the  war  dance.  The  river  strait,  so 
limpidly  and  transparently  blue  in  daytime,  that 
dipping  a  pailful  of  it  was  like  dipping  a  pailful 
of  the  sky,  scarcely  glinted  betwixt  darkened 
woods. 

In  the  center  of  an  open  space,  which  the 
camp-fires  were  built  to  illuminate,  a  i)ainted 
post  was  driven  into  the  ground,  and  the  war- 
riors formed  a  large  ring  around  it.  Their  moc- 
casined  feet  kept  time  to  the  booming  of  the 
drums.  With  a  flourish  of  his  hatchet  around 
his  head,  a  chief  leaped  into  the  ring  and 
began  to  chase  an  imaginary  foe,  chanting  his 
own   deeds  and  those  of   his  forefathers.     He 

117 


118  Hemes  of  the  Middle  West. 

was  a  muscular  rather  than  a  tall  Indian,  with 
high,  striking  features.  His  dark  skin  was  col- 
ored by  war  paint,  and  he  had  stripped  himself 
of  everything  but  ornaments.  Ottawa  Indians 
usually  wore  brilliant  blankets,  while  Wyandots 
of  Sandusky  and  Detroit  paraded  in  painted 
shirts,  their  heads  crowned  with  feathers,  and 
their  leggins  tinkling  with  little  bells.  The 
Ojibwas,  or  Chippewas,  of  the  north  carried 
quivers  slung  on  their  backs,  holding  their 
arrows. 

The  dancer  in  the  ring  was  the  Ottawa  chief, 
Pontiac,  a  man  at  that  time  fifty  years  old,  who 
had  brought  eighteen  savage  nations  under  his 
dominion,  so  that  they  obeyed  his  slightest  word. 
With  majestic  sweep  of  the  limbs  he  whirled 
through  the  pantomime  of  capturing  and  scalj)- 
ing  an  enemy,  struck  the  painted  [)ost  with  his 
tomahawk,  and  raised  the  awful  war  whoop. 
His  young  braves  stamped  and  yelled  with  him. 
Another  leaped  into  the  ring,  sung  his  deeds, 
and  struck  the  painted  post,  warrior  after  war- 
rior following,  until  a  wild  maze  of  sinewy  fig- 
ures swam  and  shrieked  around  it.  Blazing 
pine  knots  stuck  in  the  ground  helped  to  show 
this  maddened  whirl,  the  very  opposite  of  the 
peaceful,  floating  calumet  dance.    Boy  papooses, 


The  Last  Great  Indian.  119 

watching  it,  yelled  also,  their  l)lack  eyes  kin- 
dling with  full  desire  to  shed  blood. 

Perhaps  no  Indian  there,  except  Pontiac, 
und'  stood  what  was  beginning  with  the  war 
dance  on  that  May  night  of  the  year  1763.  He 
had  been  laying  his  plans  all  winter,  and  send- 
ing huge  black  and  purple  wampum  belts  of 
war,  and  hatchets  dipped  in  red,  to  rouse  every 
native  tribe.  All  the  Algonquin  stock  and  the 
Senecas  of  the  Iroquois  were  united  with  him. 
From  the  small  oven-shaped  hut  on  Isle  Cochon, 
where  he  lived  with  his  squaws  and  children, 
to  Michilimackinac,  from  Michilimackinac  to 
the  lower  Mississippi,  and  from  the  eastern  end 
of  Lake  Erie  down  to  the  Ohio,  the  messengers 
of  this  self-made  emperor  had  secretly  carried 
and  unfolded  his  plan,  which  was  to  rise  and 
attack  all  the  English  forts  on  the  same  day, 
and  then  to  destroy  all  the  English  settlers, 
sparing  no  white  people  but  the  French. 

Two  years  before,  an  English  army  had  come 
over  to  Canada  and  conquered  it.  That  was  a 
deathblow  to  French  settlements  in  the  middle 
west.  They  dared  no  longer  resist  English  colo- 
nists pushing  on  them  from  the  east.  All  that 
chain  of  forts  stretching  from  Lake  Erie  down 
to  the  Ohio  —  Presqu'  Isle,  Le  B(jeuf,  Venango, 


120 


Heroes  of  the  Middle  West. 


The  White  Flag  of  France. 


Ligoiiier  -  had  been  given  up  to  the  English, 
as  well  as  western  posts  —  Detroit,  Fort  Miami, 

Oil  a  tan  on  on 
the  VV  a  basil, 
and  Michili- 
mackinac.  The 
settlements  on 
the  Mississippi, 
however,  still 
displayed  the 
white  flag  of 
France.  So 
large  was  the  dominion  in  the  New  World  which 
England  now  had  the  right  to  claim,  that  she 
was  unable  to  grasp  it  all  at  once. 

The  Indians  did  not  like  the  English,  who 
treated  them  witli  contempt,  would  not  offer 
them  presents,  and  put  tl.em  in  danger  of  star- 
vation by  holding  back  the  guns  and  ammu- 
nition, on  which  they  had  learned  to  depend, 
instead  of  their  bows  and  arrows.  For  two 
years  they  had  borne  the  rapid  spread  of  English 
settlements  on  land  which  they  still  regarded  as 
their  own.  These  intruders  were  not  like  the 
French,  who  cared  nothing  about  claiming  land, 
and  were  always  ready  to  hunt  or  dance  with 
their  red  brethren. 


The  Last   Great  Indian.  121 

All  the  tribes  were,  therefore,  eager  to  rise 
against  the  English,  whom  they  wanted  to  drive 
back  into  the  sea.  Pontiac  liimself  knew  this 
could  not  be  done  ;  but  he  thought  it  possible, 
by  striking  the  English  forts  all  at  once,  to  re- 
store the  French  power  and  so  get  the  French 
to  help  him  in  fighting  back  their  common  foe 
from  spreading  into  the  west. 

Pontiac  was  the  only  Indian  who  ever  seemed 
to  realize  all  the  dangers  which  threatened  his 
race,  or  to  have  military  skill  for  organizing 
against  them.  His  work  had  been  secret,  and 
he  had  taken  pains  to  appear  very  friendly  to 
the  garrison  of  Detroit,  who  were  used  to  the 
noise  of  Indian  yelling  and  dancing.  This  fort 
was  the  central  point  of  his  operations,  and  he 
intended  to  take  it  next  morning  by  surprise. 

Though  La  Motte  Cadillac  was  the  founder 
of  a  permanent  settlement  on  the  west  shore  of 
Detroit  River,  it  is  said  that  Greysolon  du  Lhut 
set  up  the  first  palisades  there.  About  a  hun- 
dred houses  stood  crowded  together  within  the 
wooden  wall  of  these  tall  log  pickets,  which 
were  twenty-live  feet  high.  The  houses  were 
roofed  with  bark  or  thatched  with  straw.  The 
streets  were  mere  paths,  but  a  wide  road  went 
all  around  the  town  next  to  the  palisades.     De- 


122  ITeroes  of  the  Middle  West. 

troit  was  almost  square  in  shape,  with  a  bastion, 
or  fortified  projection,  at  each  corner,  and  a  block- 
Iiouse  built  over  each  gate.  The  river  almost 
washed  the  front  palisades,  and  two  schooners 
usually  anchored  near  to  protect  the  fort  and 
give  it  communication  with  other  points.  Be- 
sides the  homes  of  settlers,  it  contained  barracks 
for  soldiers,  a  council-house,  and  a  little  church. 

About  a  hundred  and  twenty  English  soldiers, 
besides  fur  traders  and  Canadian  settlers,  were 
in  this  inclosure,  which  was  called  the  fort,  to 
distinguish  it  from  the  village  of  French  houses 
up  and  down  the  shore.  Dwellers  outside  had 
their  own  gardens  and  orchards,  also  surrounded 
by  pickets.  These  French  people,  who  tried  to 
live  comfortably  among  the  English,  whom  they 
liked  no  better  than  the  Indians  did,  raised  fine 
pears  and  apples  and  made  wine  of  the  wild 
grapes. 

The  river,  emptying  the  water  of  the  upper 
lakes  into  Lake  Erie,  was  about  half  a  mile 
wide.  Sunlight  next  morning  showed  this 
blue  strait  sparkling  from  the  palisades  to  the 
other  shore,  and  trees  and  gardens  moist  with 
that  dewy  breath  which  seems  to  exhale  from 
fresh-water  seas.  Indians  swarmed  early  around 
the  fort,  pretending  that  the  young  men  were 


llie  Last   Great  Indian.  V23 

that  clay  going  to  play  a  game  of  ball  in  the 
fields,  while  Pontiae  and  sixty  old  chiefs  came 
to  hold  a  council  with  the  English.  More 
than  a  thousand  of  them  lounged  about,  ready 
for  action.  The  braves  were  blanketed,  each 
carrying  a  gun  with  its  barrel  tiled  off  short 
enough  to  be  concealed  under  his  blanket. 

About  ten  o'clock  Pontiae  and  his  chiefs 
crossed  the  river  in  birch  canoes  and  stalked 
in  Indian  file,  every  man  stepping  in  the  tracks 
of  the  man  before  him,  to  the  fort  gates.  The 
gates  on  the  water  side  usually  stood  open  until 
evening,  for  the  English,  contemptuously  care- 
less of  savages,  let  squaws  and  warriors  come 
and  go  at  i)leasure.  They  did  not  that  morning 
open  until  Pontiae  entered.  He  found  himself 
and  his  chiefs  walking  betwixt  files  of  armed 
soldiers.     The  gates  were  shut  behind  him. 

Pontiae  was  startled  as  if  by  a  sting.  Ho 
saw  that  some  one  had  betrayed  hfs  plan  to  the 
oflficers.  Even  fur  traders  were  standing  under 
arms.  To  this  day  it  is  not  known  who  secretly 
warned  the  fort  of  Pontiac's  conspiracy ;  but 
the  most  reliable  tradition  declares  it  to  have 
been  a  young  squaw  named  Catherine,  who 
could  not  endure  to  see  friends  whom  she  loved 
put  to  death. 


rj4  Heroes  of  the  Middle  West. 

It  iiaslied  tliiougli  routine's  mind  that  lie 
and  his  followers  were  now  really  prisoners. 
The  captain  of  Detroit  was  afterwards  blamed 
for  not  holding  the  chief  when  he  had  him. 
The  tribes  couhl  not  rnsh  through  the  closed 
gates  at  Pontiae's  signal,  which  was  to  be  the 
lifting  of  a  wampum  belt  upside  down,  with  all 
its  iigures  reversed.  But  the  cunning  savage 
put  on  a  hiok  of  innocence  and  inquired  :  — 

"  My  father,"  using  the  Indian  term  of  respect, 
"  why  are  so  many  of  your  young  men  standing 
in  the  street  with  their  guns?" 

"  They  have  been  ordered  out  for  exercise 
and  discipline,"  answered  the  officer. 

A  slight  clash  of  arms  and  the  rolling  of 
drums  were  heard  by  the  surprised  tribes  wait- 
ing in  suspense  around  the  palisades.  They 
did  not  know  whether  they  would  ever  see  their 
leader  appear  again.  But  he  came  out,  after 
going  through  the  form  of  a  council,  mortified 
by  his  failure  to  seize  the  fort,  and  sulkily 
crossed  the  river  to  his  lodge.  All  his  plans  to 
bring  warriors  inside  the  palisades  were  treated 
with  contempt  by  the  captain  of  Detroit.  Pon- 
tiac  wanted  his  braves  to  smoke  the  calumet 
with  his  English  father. 

"  You  may  come  in  yourself,"  said  the  officer, 


The   Last    Gi'CMt   Indian.  11*5 

"  hut  the  crowd  you  have  with  you  must  remain 
outside." 

"  T  want  all  my  young  men,"  urged  Pon- 
tiac,  "  to  enjoy  the  fragrance  of  the  friendly 
calumet." 

"  I  will  have  none  of  your  rahhle  in  the  fort," 
said  the  officer. 

Kaging  like  a  wild  heast,  Pontiac  then  led 
his  peoi)le  in  assault.  He  threw  off  every  pre- 
tense of  friendliness,  and  from  all  directions 
the  tribes  closed  around  Detroit  in  a  general 
attack.  Though  it  had  wooden  walls,  it  was 
well  defended.  The  Indians,  after  their  first 
fierce  onset,  fighting  in  tlieir  own  way,  behind 
trees  and  sheltered  by  buildings  outside  the  fort, 
were  able  to  besiege  the  place  indefinitely  with 
comparatively  small  loss  to  themselves ;  while 
the  garrison,  shut  in  almost  without  warning, 
looked  forward  to  scarcity  of  provisicyis. 

All  English  people  caught  beyond  the  walls 
were  instantly  murdered.  Rut  the  French  set- 
tlers were  allowed  to  go  about  their  usual 
affairs  unhurt.  Queer  traditions  have  come 
down  from  them  of  the  pious  burial  they  gave 
to  English  victims  of  the  Indians.  One  old 
man  stuck  his  hands  out  of  his  grave.  The 
French  covered  them   with  earth.      But  next 


120  Ileroea  of  the  Middle  n'est. 

time  they  passed  that  way  they  saw  the  stiff, 
entreating  hands,  like  pale  fungi,  again  thrust 
into  view.  At  this  the  horrified  French  settlers 
hurried  to  their  priest,  who  said  the  neglected 
burial  service  over  the  grave,  and  so  put  the 
poor  Englishman  to  rest,  for  his  hands  pro- 
truded no  more. 

One  of  the  absent  schooners  kept  f^-r  the  use 
of  the  fort  had  gone  down  river  with  letters  and 
dispatches.  Her  crew  knew  nothing  of  the  siege, 
and  she  narrowly  escaped  capture.  A  convoy 
of  boats,  bringing  the  usual  spring  supplies,  was 
taken,  leaving  Detroit  to  face  famine.  Yet  it 
refused  to  surrender,  and,  in  spite  of  Pontiac's 
rage  and  his  continual  investment  of  the  place, 
the  red  flag  of  England  floated  over  that  for- 
tress all  summer. 

Other  posts  were  not  so  fortunate  in  resisting 
Pontiac's  conspiracy.  Fort  Sandusky,  at  the 
west  end  of  Lake  Erie ;  Fort  Ouatanon,  on  the 
Wabash,  a  little  south  of  where  Lafayette,  in 
the  state  of  Indiana,  now  stands ;  Fort  Miami, 
Presqu'  Isle,  Le  Bo^uf,  Venango,  on  the  eastern 
border,  and  Michilimackinac,  on  the  straits,  were 
all  taken  by  the  Indians. 

At  Presqu'  Isle  the  twenty-seven  soldiers 
went  into  the  blockhouse  of  the  fort  and  pre- 


The  Ldnt   Great  Indian.  127 

pared  to  hold  it,  lining  and  making  it  bullet- 
proof. 

A  blockhouse  was  built  of  logs,  or  very  thick 
timber,  and  had  no  windows,  and  but  one  door 
in  the  lower  story.  The  ui)per  story  projected 
several  feet  all  around,  and  had  loopholes  in 
the  overhanging  floor,  through  which  the  men 
could  shoot  down.  Loopholes  were  also  fixed 
in  the  upper  walls,  wide  within,  but  closing  to 
narrow  slits  on  the  outside.  A  sentry  box  or 
lookout  was  sometimes  put  at  the  top  of  the 
roof.  With  the  door  barred  by  iron  or  great 
beams  of  wood,  and  food  and  ammunition 
stored  in  the  lower  room,  men  could  ascend  a 
ladder  to  the  second  story  of  a  blockhouse  and 
hold  it  against  great  odds,  if  the  besiegers  did 
not  succeed  in  burning  them  out. 

Presqu'  Isle  was  at  the  edge  of  Lake  Erie, 
and  the  soldiers  brought  in  all  the  water  they 
could  store.  But  the  attacking  Indians  made 
breastworks  of  logs,  and  shot  burning  arrows 
on  the  shingle  roof.  All  the  water  barrels 
were  emptied  putting  out  fires.  While  some 
men  defended  the  loopholes,  others  dug  under 
the  floor  of  the  blockhouse  and  mined  a  way 
below  ground  to  the  well  in  the  fort  where 
Indians  swarmed.     Buildings  in  the  inclosure 


lliS  Jltt'oes  of  the.  Middle  West. 

were  set  on  fire,  but  the  defenders  of  the  hloek- 
hunse  kept  it  from  catching  tlie  flames  by  tear- 
ing off  sliingles  from  the  roof  when  they  began 
to  burn.  The  mining  party  reached  the  well, 
and  buckets  of  water  were  drawn  up  and  passed 
through  the  tunnel  to  the  blockhouse.  Greatly 
exhausted,  the  soldiers  held  out  until  next  day, 
when,  having  surrendered  honorably,  they  were 
all  taken  prisoners  as  they  left  the  scorched  and 
battered  log  tower.  For  savages  were  such 
cai)ricious  and  cruel  victors  that  they  could 
rarely  be  depended  upon  to  keep  faith.  Pon- 
tiac  himself  was  superior  to  his  people  in  such 
matters.  If  he  had  been  at  Presqu'  Isle,  the 
garrison  would  not  have  been  seized  after 
surrendering  on  honorable  terms.  Plowever, 
these  soldiers  were  not  instantly  massacred,  as 
other  prisoners  had  been  in  war  betwixt  French 
and  English,  when  savage  allies  could  not  be 
restrained. 

Next  to  Detroit  the  most  important  post  was 
Michilimackinac. 

This  was  not  the  island  in  the  straits  bearing 
that  name,  but  a  stockaded  fort  on  the  south 
shore  of  Michigan,  directly  across  the  strait 
from  St.  Ignace.  To  this  day,  searching  along 
a  beach  of  deep,  yielding  sand,  so  different  from 


The   Last   Great   Indian.  129 

the;  rocky  strands  of  the  ishuuls,  you  may  find 
at  the  forest  edge  a  celhar  where  the  powder 
house  stood,  and  fruit  trees  and  gooseberry 
bushes  from  gardens  phuited  there  more  than 
two  hundred  years  ago. 

Michilimackinac,  succeeding  St.  Ignace,  had 
grown  in  importance,  and  was  now  a  stockaded 
fort,  having  Frencli  houses  both  within  and  out- 
side it,  like  Detroit.  After  Father  Marquette's 
okl  mission  had  been  abandoned  and  the  build- 
ings burned,  another  small  mission  was  begun 
at  L'Arbre  Croche,  not  far  west  of  Fort  Michil- 
imackinac,  such  of  his  Ottawas  as  were  not  scat- 
tered being  gathered  here.  The  region  around 
also  was  full  of  Chippewas  or  Ojibwas. 

All  these  Indians  hated  the  English.  Some 
came  to  the  fort  and  said  to  a  young  English 
trader  named  Alexander  Henry,  who  arrived 
after  the  white  flag  was  hauled  down  and  the 
red  one  about  to  be  hoisted  :  — 

"  Englishman,  although  you  have  conquered 
the  French,  you  have  not  conquered  us.  We 
are  not  your  slaves.  These  lakes,  these  woods 
and  mountains  were  left  to  us  by  our  ancestors. 
They  are  our  inheritance,  and  we  will  part  with 
them  to  none! " 

Though  these  Ottawas  and  Chippewas  were 


130  Heroes  of  the  Middle  West. 

independent  of  those  about  Detroit,  they  had 
eagerly  taken  hold  of  Pontiac's  war  belt.  The 
missionary  priest  was  able  for  a  while  to  restrain 
the  Ottawas.  The  Chippewas,  gathered  in  from 
their  winter's  hunting,  determined  to  strike  the 
first  blow. 

On  the  fourth  day  of  June,  which  was  the 
English  king's  birthday,  they  came  and  invited 
the  garrison  to  look  at  a  game  of  ball,  or  baggat- 
taway,  which  they  were  going  to  play  on  the 
long  sandy  beach,  against  some  Sac  Indians. 
The  fortress  gates  stood  open.  The  day  was 
very  warm  and  discipline  was  relaxed.  Nobody 
noticed  that  squaws,  flocking  inside  the  fort, 
had  tomahawks  and  scalping  knives  hidden 
under  their  blankets,  though  a  few  Englishmen 
afterward  remembered  that  the  squaws  were 
strangely  huddled  in  wrappings  on  a  day  hot 
for  that  climate. 

The  young  English  trader,  Alexander  Henry, 
has  left  a  careful  account  of  the  massacre  at  Fort 
Michilimackinac.  He  did  not  go  out  to  see  the 
ball  game,  because  he  had  important  letters  to 
write  and  send  by  a  caroe  just  starting  to  Can- 
ada. Officers  and  men,  believing  the  red  tribes 
friendly,  lounged  about  unarmed.  Whitewashed 
French  houses  shone  in  the  sun,  and  the  surge 


The  Last  Great  Indian.  131 

of  the  straits  sounded  peacefully  on  the  beach. 
Nobody  could  dream  that  when  the  shouting 
Indians  drove  the  ball  back  from  the  farthest 
stake,  their  cries  would  suddenly  change  to 
war  whoops. 

At  that  horrid  yell  Henry  sprang  up  and  ran 
to  a  window  of  his  house.  He  saw  Chippewas 
fining  the  fort,  and  with  weapons  snatched  from 
the  squaws,  cutting  down  and  scalping  Eng- 
lishmen. He  caught  his  own  gun  from  its 
rack,  expecting  to  hear  the  drum  beat  to  arms. 
But  the  surprised  garrison  were  unable  even  to 
sound  an  alarm. 

Seeing  that  not  a  Frenchman  was  touched, 
Henry  slipped  into  the  house  of  his  next  neigh- 
bor, a  Canadian  named  Langlade.  The  whole 
family  were  at  the  front  windows,  looking  at 
the  horrible  sights  in  the  fort ;  but  an  Indian 
slave,  a  Pani,  or  Pawnee  woman,  beckoned  to 
him  and  hid  him  in  the  attic,  locking  the  door 
and  carrying  away  the  key. 

The  attic  probably  had  one  or  two  of  those 
tunnel-like  dormer  windows  built  in  the  curv- 
ing roof  of  all  French  houses.  Henry  found 
a  place  where  he  could  look  out.  He  saw  his 
countrymen  slaughtered  without  being  able  to 
help  them,  and  it  was  like  a  frightful  night- 


132  Heroes  of  the  Middle  West. 

mare  from  which  there  was  to  be  no  awaken- 
ing.    Presently  the  cry  rose :  — 

"All  is  finished  !  " 

Then  the  Indians  crowded  into  Langlade's 
house  and  inquired  whether  any  Englishmen 
were  hid  there.  So  thin  was  the  attic  floor  of 
planks  laid  across  joists,  that  Henry  could  hear 
every  word. 

"  I  cannot  say,"  answered  the  Frenchman. 
"  You  may  examine  for  yourselves." 

Henry  looked  around  the  attic  for  some  place 
to  hide  in.  Moccasined  feet  were  already  com- 
ing upstairs.  Savage  liands  shook  the  attic  door, 
and  impatient  guttural  voices  demanded  the 
key.  While  some  one  went  for  the  key,  Henry 
•crept  into  a  kind  of  tunnel  made  by  a  heap  of 
birch-bark  vessels,  used  in  the  maple-sugar  sea- 
son. The  door  was  opening  before  he  could 
draw  himself  quite  out  of  siglit,  and  though  the 
pile  was  in  a  dark  corner,  he  dreaded  displacing 
some  of  the  birch  troughs  and  making  a  noise. 

The  Indians  trod  so  close  to  liim  he  thought 
they  must  hear  iiim  breathe.  Their  bodies  were 
smeared  with  blood,  which  could  be  seen  through 
the  dusk ;  and  wliile  searching  they  told  Mon- 
sieur Langlade  how  many  Englishmen  they  had 
killed  and  the  number  of  scalps  they  had  taken. 


The   Lost   (jtreat  Ind'uui.  133 

Not  fiiuliiii^  iuiy  one,  they  went  away  and  the 
door  was  n^wm  hacked.  Henry  crept  out  of  hid- 
inu'.  There  was  a  feather  bed  on  the  floor  and 
he  stretched  himself  on  it,  so  worn  out  by  what 
he  had  seen  and  endured  that  he  fell  asleep. 

He  was  roused  by  the  door  opening  again. 
Madame  Langlade  came  in,  and  she  was  sur- 
[)rised  and  frightened  at  finding  him.  It  was 
nearly  night  and  a  fierce  summer  .ain  beat 
upon  the  roof,  dripping  through  cracks  of 
the  heat-dried  bark.  Madame  Langlade  had 
come  to  stop  a  leak.  She  told  Henry  that 
all  the  English  except  himself  were  killed, 
but  she  hoped  he  would  escai)e.  She  brought 
him  some  water  to  drink. 

As  darkness  came  on,  he  lay  thinking  of  his 
desperate  state.  He  was  four  hundred  miles 
from  Detroit,  which  he  did  not  then  know  was 
})esieged,  and  with  all  his  stores  captured  or 
destroyed  by  the  Indians,  he  had  no  provisions. 
He  could  not  stay  where  he  was,  and  if  he  ven- 
tured out,  the  first  red  man  who  met  him  would 
kill  liim. 

By  morning  the  Indians  came  to  the  house 
intpiiring  for  Henry,  whom  they  had  missed. 
Madame  Langlade  was  in  such  fear  that  they 
might  kill  her  children  if   they  found  Henry 


134  Hemes  of  the  Middle  West, 

sheltered  in  the  liouse,  that  she  told  her  hus- 
band where  he  was  and  begged  to  have  him 
given  up.  This  the  Frenchman  at  first  refused 
to  do ;  but  he  finally  led  the  Indians  again  to 
the  attic. 

Henry  stood  up,  expecting  to  die. 

The  Indians  were  all  partially  drunk  and 
liad  satisfied  themselves  with  slaughter.  One 
of  them  seized  Henry  by  the  collar  and  lifted  a 
knife  to  plunge  into  his  breast.  White  man 
and  red  man  looked  intently  at  each  other,  and 
the  savage,  perhaps  moved  by  the  fearless  de- 
spair in  the  young  Englishman's  eyes,  concluded 
to  take  him  prisoner.  Henry  began  to  think  he 
could  not  be  killed. 

He  found  that  the  captain  and  lieutenant  of 
Michilimackinac  were  also  alive  and  prisoners 
like  himself.  The  missionary  priest  was  doing 
all  he  could  to  restrain  his  maddened  flock.  At 
a  council  held  between  Chippewas  and  Otta- 
was,  Henry  was  bought  with  presents  by  a  Chip- 
pewa chief  named  Wawatam,  who  loved  him, 
and  who  had  been  absent  the  day  of  the  attack. 
Wawatam  put  Henry  in  his  canoe,  carried  him 
across  the  strait  to  Michilimackinac  Island,  and 
hid  him  in  a  cave,  which  is  now  called  Skull 
Rock   by  the   islanders,  because  Henry  found 


The  Last   Great   Indian.  lo5 

ancient  skulls  and  bones  in  the  botloni  of  it. 
As  the  island  was  held  sacred  by  tlie  Indians, 
tliis  was  probably  one  of  their  old  sepulchres. 
Its  dome  top  is  smothered  in  a  tangle  of  ever- 
greens and  brush.  There  is  a  low,  triangular 
entrance,  and  the  hollow  inside  is  shaped  like 
an  elbow.  More  than  one  island  boy  has  since 
crept  back  to  the  dark  bend  where  Henry  lay 
hidden  on  the  skulls,  but  only  a  drift  of  damp 
leaves  can  be  found  there  now. 

The  whole  story  of  Alexander  Henry's  ad- 
ventures, before  he  escaped  and  returned  safely 
to  Canada,  is  a  wonderful  chapter  in  western 
history. 

The  Indians  were  not  guilty  of  all  the  cru- 
elties practiced  in  this  war.  Bounties  were 
offered  for  savage  scalps.  One  renegade  Eng- 
lishman, named  David  Owen,  came  back  from 
adoption  and  marriage  into  a  tribe,  bringing  the 
scalps  of  his  squaw  wife  and  her  friends. 

Through  the  entire  summer  Pontiac  was  suc^ 
cessful  in  everything  except  the  taking  of  De- 
troit. He  besieged  it  from  May  until  October. 
With  autumn  his  hopes  began  to  dwindle.  He 
had  asked  the  French  to  help  him,  and  re- 
fused to  believe  that  their  king  had  made  a 
treaty  at  Paris,  giving  up  to  the  English  all 


l.'JO 


I/t't'oes  of  the  Mlddh'  West. 


French  claims  in  the  New  World  east  of  the 
Mississippi.  His  cause  was  lost.  He  could 
band  unstable  warriors  together  for  a  common 

good,  but  he 
could  not  con- 
trol politics  in 
Europe,  nor  de- 
fend a  people 
given  up  by 
their  sover- 
eign, against 
the  solidly  ad- 
vancing Eng- 
lish race. 

North  America  at  Close  of  Frencli  Wary,  17G3.  Riif    Tip    \vfm 

unwilling  to  own  himself  defeated  while  the 
French  flag  waved  over  a  foot  of  American 
ground.  This  clever  Indian,  needing  supplies 
to  carry  on  his  war,  used  civilized  methods  to 
get  them  on  credit.  He  gave  promissory  notes 
written  on  birch  bark,  signed  with  his  own 
totem,  or  tribe-mark  —  a  picture  of  the  otter. 
These  notes  were  faithfully  i)aid. 

When  he  saw  his  struggle  becoming  hopeless 
eastward,  he  drew  off  to  the  Illinois  settlements 
to  fight  back  the  English  fi'om  taking  posses- 
sion of  Fort  Chartres,   the   last  French  post. 


The  Last  Great  Indian.  137 

They  might  come  up  the  Mississippi  from  New- 
Orleans,  or  they  might  come  down  the  Ohio. 
The  Iroquois  had  always  called  the  Mississippi 
the  Ohio,  considering  that  river  which  rose 
near  their  own  country  the  great  river,  and 
the  northern  branch  merely  a  tributary. 

Pontiac  ordered  the  Illinois  Indians  to  take 
up  arms  and  stand  by  him. 

"  Hesitate  not,"  he  said,  "  or  I  will  destroy 
you  as  fire  does  the  prairie  grass  I  These  are 
the  words  of  Pontiac." 

They  obeyed  him.  He  sent  more  messengers 
down  as  far  as  New  Orleans,  keeping  the  tribes 
stirred  against  the  English.  He  camped  with 
his  forces  around  Fort  Chartres,  cherishing  it 
and  urging  the  last  French  commandant,  St. 
Ange  de  Bellerive,  to  take  up  arms  with  him< 
until  that  poor  captain,  tormented  by  the  savage 
mob,  and  only  holding  the  place  until  its  Eng- 
lish owners  received  it,  was  ready  to  march  out 
with  his  few  soldiers  and  abandon  it. 

It  is  told  that  while  Pontiac  was  leading  his 
forlorn  hope,  he  made  his  conquerors  ridiculous. 
Major  Loftus  with  a  detachment  of  troops  came 
up  the  Mississippi  to  take  possession  according 
to  treaty.  Pontiac  turned  him  back.  Captain 
Pittman  came  up  the  river.    Pontiac  turned  him 


138  Jhroes  of  the  Middle  West. 

back.  Captain  Morris  started  from  Detroit,  and 
Pontiac  squatted  defiantly  in  his  way.  Lieuten- 
ant Frazer  descended  the  Ohio.  Pontiac  caught 
him  and  shipped  him  to  New  Orleans  by  canoe. 
Captain  Croghan  was  also  stopped  near  Detroit. 
Both  French  and  Spanish  people  roared  with 
laughter  at  the  many  failures  of  the  coming 
race  to  seize  what  had  so  easily  been  obtained 
by  treaty. 

Two  years  and  a  half  passed  between  Pon- 
tiac's  attack  on  Detroit  and  the  formal  sur- 
render of  Fort  Chartres.  The  great  war  chief's 
heart,  with  a  gradual  breaking,  finally  yielded 
before  the  steadily  advancing  and  all-conquering 
people  that  were  to  dominate  this  continent. 

The  second  day  of  winter,  late  in  the  after- 
noon, Pontiac  went  into  the  fort  unattended  by 
any  warrior,  and  without  a  word  sat  down  near 
St.  Ange  de  Bellerive  in  the  officers'  quarters. 
Roth  veteran  soldier  and  old  chief  knew  that 
Major  Farmar,  with  a  large  body  of  troops,  was 
almost  in  sight  of  Fort  Chartres,  coming  from 
New  Orleans.  Perhaps  before  the  low  winter 
sun  was  out  of  sight,  cannon  mounted  on  one 
of  the  bastions  would  have  to  salute  the  new 
commandant.  Sentinels  on  the  mound  of  Fort 
Chartres  could  see  a  frosty  valley,  reaching  to 


Tlia  Last   (JretU  Indian.  139 

till)  Mississippi,  glinting  in  the  distance.  That 
all n villi  stretch  was,  in  the  course  of  years,  to 
be  eaten  away  l)y  the  river  even  to  the  bastions. 
The  fort  itself,  built  at  such  expense,  would 
soon  be  abandoned  by  its  conquerors,  to  sink, 
[)iec(!nieal,  a  noble  and  massive  ruin.  The  donie- 
sliaped  powder  house  and  ston;^  quarters  would 
be  put  to  ignoble  uses,  and  forest  trees,  spread- 
ing the  spice  of  walnut  fragrance,  or  the  dense 
shadow  of  oaks,  would  grow  through  the  very 
room  where  St.  Ange  and  Pontiac  sat.  Indians, 
passing  by,  would  camp  in  the  old  place,  for- 
getting how  the  last  hope  of  their  race  had 
clung  to  it. 

The  Frenchman  partly  foresaw  these  changes, 
and  it  was  a  bitter  hour  to  him.  He  wanted  to 
have  it  over  and  to  cross  the  Mississippi,  to  a 
town  recently  founded  northward  on  the  west 
shore,  where  many  French  settlers  had  collected, 
called  St.  Louis.  This  was  then  considered 
Spanish  ground.  But  if  the  French  king  de- 
serted his  American  colonies,  why  should  not 
his  American  colonists  desert  him  ? 

"  Father,"  spoke  out  Pontiac,  with  the  usual 
Indian  term  of  respect,  "I  have  always  loved 
the  French.  We  have  often  smoked  the  cal- 
umet  together,    and   we   have    fought   battles 


140  Heroes  of  the  Middle  West. 

together  against  misguided  Indians  and  the 
English  dogs." 

St.  Ange  de  Bellerive  looked  at  the  dejected 
chief  and  thought  of  Le  Moyne  de  Bienville, 
now  an  old  man  living  in  France,  who  was  said 
to  have  wept  and  implored  King  Louis  on  his 
knees  not  to  give  up  to  the  English  that  rich 
western  domain  which  Marquette  and  Jolliet 
and  La  Salle  and  Tonty  and  many  another 
Frenchman  had  suffered  to  gain,  and  to  secure 
which  he  himself  had  given  his  best  years. 

"  The  chief  must  now  bury  the  hatchet,"  he 
answered  quietly. 

"  I  have  buried  it,"  said  Pontiac.  "  I  shall 
lift  it  no  more." 

"  The  English  are  willing  to  make  peace  with 
him,  if  he  recalls  all  his  wampum  belts  of  war." 

Pontiac  grinned.  "  The  belts  are  more  than 
one  man  can  carry." 

"  Where  does  the  chief  intend  to  go  when  he 
leaves  this  post  ?  " 

Pontiac  lifted  his  hand  and  pointed  east,  west, 
north,  south.  He  would  have  no  settled  abode. 
It  was  a  sign  that  he  relinquished  the  inher- 
itance of  his  fathers  to  an  invader  he  hated. 
His  race  could  not  live  under  the  civilization  of 
the  Anglo-Saxon.     He  would  have  struck  out 


The  Last   Great  Indian.  141 

to  the  remotest  wilderness,  had  he  foreseen  to 
what  a  burial  place  his  continual  clinging  to 
the  French  would  bring  him.  For  Pontiac  was 
assassinated  by  an  Illinois  Indian,  whom  an  Eng- 
lish trader  had  bribed,  and  his  body  lies  some- 
where to-day  under  the  pavements  of  St.  Louis, 
English-speaking  men  treading  constantly  over 
him.  But  if  the  dead  chiefs  ears  could  hear, 
he  would  catch  also  the  sound  of  the  beloved 
French  tongue  lingering  there. 
^  A  cannon  thundered  from  one  of  the  bastions. 
St.  Ange  stood  up,  and  Pontiac  stood  up  with 
him. 

"  The  English  are  in  sight,"  said  St.  Ange 
de  Bellerive.  "  That  salute  is  the  signal  for  the 
flag  of  France  to  be  lowered  on  Fort  Chartres." 


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THE  JANE  ANDREWS  BOOKS 


A  REMARKABLE  series  of  attractive  and  interesting  books  for  young 
people,  —  written  in  a  clear,  easy,  and  picturesque  style.  This  is  the 
famous  Jane  Andrews  series  which  has  been  for  many  years  an  old-time 
favorite  with  young  folks.  Other  juvenile  books  come  and  go,  but 
the  Jane  Andrews  books  maintain  the  irresistible  charm  they  always 
have  had. 

The  Seven  Little  Sisters  Who  Live  on  the  Round  Ball  that 
Floats  in  the  Air.  Revised  Edition,  printed  from  new  plates, 
with  new  full-page  illustrations.  1 2mo.  Cloth.  121  pages.  P'or 
introduction,  50  cents. 

Each  and  All ;  The  Seven  Little  Sisters  Prove  Their  Sister= 
hood.  i2mo.  Cloth  162  pages.  Illustrated.  For  introduction, 
50  cents. 

The  Stories  Mother  Nature  Told  Her  Children.  i2mo.  Cloth. 
161  pages.     Illustrated.     For  introduction,  50  cents. 

Ten  Boys  Who  Lived  on  the  Road  from  Long  Ago  to  Now. 

i2mo.    Cloth.    243  pages.    Illustrated.     For  introduction,  50  cents. 

Geographical  Plays.  i2mo.  Cloth.  140  pages.  For  introduction, 
50  cents. 

The  "  Seven  Little  Sisters"  represents  the  seven  races,  and  the  book  shows  how 
people  live  in  the  various  parts  of  the  world,  what  their  manners  and  customs  are, 
wliat  the  products  of  each  section  are  and  how  they  are  interchanged. 

"  Each  and  All "  continues  the  story  of  Seven  Little  Sisters,  and  tells  more  of 
the  peculiarities  of  tlie  various  races,  especially  in  relation  to  childhood. 

Dame  Nature  unfolds  in  "Stories  Mother  Nature  Told"  some  of  her  most 
precious  secrets.  She  tells  about  the  amber,  about  the  dragon-fly  and  its  wonderful 
history,  about  water-lilies,  hov,'  the  Indian  corn  grows,  what  queer  pranks  the 
Frost  Giants  indulge  in,  about  coral,  and  starfish,  and  coal  mines,  and  many 
other  things  in  which  children  take  delight. 

In  "  Ten  Boys "  the  history  of  the  world  is  summarized  in  the  stories  of 
Kabla  the  Aryan  boy,  Darius  the  Persian  boy,  Cleon  the  Greek  boy,  Horatius  the 
Roman  boy,  Wulf  the  Saxon  boy,  Gilbert  the  Knight's  page,  Roger  the  English 
boy,  Fuller  the  Puritan  boy,  Dawson  the  Yankee  boy,  and  Frank  Wilson  the 
boy  of  1085, 


GINN  &  COMPANY,  Publishers, 

Boston.  New  York.  Chicago.  Atlanta.  Dallas. 


Study  and  story  naturii  riiaders 

By  J.  H.  STICKNEY, 
Author  of  the  Stichney  Headers. 

EARTH  AND  SKY.  No.  I.  A  First  Grade  Nature  Reader  and  Text- 
Book.    Sq.  i2mo.     Cloth.     1 1 5  pages.     Fully  illustrated.     30  cents. 

EARTH  AND  SKY.     No.  II.  ^In  p,''paration. 

PETS  AND  COMPANIONS.  A  Second  Reader.  Sq.  i2mo.  Boards. 
142  pages.     Fully  illustrated.     30  cents. 

BIRD  WORLD.  A  P.ird  Book  for  Children.  With  COlor  pictures. 
By  J.  H.  Stickney,  assisted  by  Ralph  FIoffmann.  Sq.  lanio. 
Cloth.     214  pages.     Illustrated.     60  cents. 

SEED  AND  HARVEST.     By  S.  E.  Brassil  and  J.  11.  Stickney. 

[/;/  preparation. 

The  Study  and  Story  Nature  Readers  are  readers  in  form 
and  appearance,  but  have  a  wider  aim  in  being  well-chosen 
points  of  departure  through  conversational  lessons  —  oppor- 
tunities for  observational  work. 

Earth  and  Sky,  No.  I,  the  first  book  of  the  series  in  grade, 
is  a  little  reader  which  embraces  a  wide  range  of  topics. 

Pets  and  Companions,  the  second  book  of  the  series  in 
grade,  is  a  little  reader  of  stories  and  easy  studies.  Its 
subjects  are  such  familiar  animals  as  are  best  calculated  to 
inspire  sympathy  and  affection. 

No  effort  has  been  spared  to  make  Bird  Worid  one  of  the 
most  attractive  and  instructive  reading  books  on  birds  ever 
published.  Miss  Stickney  has  had  associated  with  her  in 
its  literary  and  artistic  preparation  IMr.  Hoffmann,  a  gentle- 
man who  has  lived  closer  to  bird  world  than  any  of  us. 
For  years  he  has  know^n  by  sight  and  sound  all  the  New 
England  birds  and  many,  if  not  most,  of  our  chance  summer 
and  winter  visitors.  A  number  of  the  stories  are  based 
upon  his  own  personal  observations.  Special  features  of 
the  book  consist  of  true  pictures  of  birds  l3y  the  well-known 
artist,  Mr.  Ernest  S.  Thompson,  and  also  of  a  series  of  color 
photographs. 

GINN   &   COMPANY,  Publishers. 

Boston.  New  York.  Chicago.         Atlanta.  Dallas. 


NATURE  STUDY 


THE  JANE  ANDREWS  BOOKS. 

]}y  Jank  Andkf.ws. 

The  Seven  Little  Sisters.     Revised  Edition.    With  new  full-page  illustrations 

For  introduction,  50  cents. 

Each  and  All.  Revised  Edition.  With  new  full-page  illustrations.  For  intro- 
duction, 50  cents. 

Stories  Mother  Nature  Told  her  Children.  Revised  Edition.  With  new  full- 
page  illustrations.     For  introduction,  50  cents. 

STICKNEY'S  STUDY  AND  STORY  NATURE  READERS. 

15y  J.  H.  Stick Nuv,  autlior  of  the  Stickney  Readers. 

Earth  and  Sky.  A  First  Grade  Nature  Reader  and  Text-Book.  For  introduc- 
tion, 30  cents. 

Pets  and  Companions.     For  primary  grades.     For  introduction,  30  cents. 
Bird  World.     A   Bird   Book  for  Children.     By  J.  H.  Sticknev,  assisted  by 
Rali'II  Hoffmann.     For  introduction,  60  cents. 

STRONG'S  ALL  THE  YEAR  ROUND. 

By  Frances  L.  SxKONfi  of  the  Teachers'  Training  School,  St.  Paul,  Minn. 
Fart  I.    Autumn.     For  introduction,  30  cents. 
Part  n.    Winter.     For  introduction,  30  cents. 
Part  III.     Spring.     For  introduction,  30  cents. 

EDDY'S  FRIENDS  AND  HELPERS. 

Compiled  by  Sarah  J.  Eddy.     For  introduction,  60  cents. 

LONG'S  W./.YS  OF  WOOD  FOLK.    (First  Series.) 

I'y  William  J.  I^onc;.     For  introduction,  50  cents. 

MORLEY'S  LITTLE  WANDERERS. 

By  Margaret  Warner  Morley.     For  introduction,  30  cents. 

WEED'S  STORIES  OF  INSECT  LIFE.    (First  Series  ) 

hy  Ci.AKENCE  M.  Weed,  Professor  of  Zoology  and  Entomology  in  the  New 
Hampshire  College  of  Agriculture  and  the  Mechanic  Arts.  For  introduction, 
25  cents. 

MURTFELDT  AND  WEED'S  STORIES  OF  INSECT  LIFE.    (Second  Series.) 

By  Marv  E.  Murtfeldt  and  Clarence  Moores  Weeu.  For  introduction, 
30  cents. 

WEED'S  SEED-TRAVELLERS. 

By  Clarence  M.  Weed.     For  introduction,  25  cents. 

BEAL'S  SEED  DISPERSAL. 

By  W.  J.  I'liAL,  i'rofessor  of  Botany  and  Forestry  in  Michigan  State  Agricultural 
College.     For  introduction,  35  cents. 

BURT'S  LITTLE  NATURE  STUDIES  FOR  LITTLE  PEOPLE. 

From  the  Essays  of  John  Bukkoikihs.     Edited  by  Makv  E.  Burt. 
Volume  I.    A  Primer  and  a  First  Reader.    For  introduction,  ^5  cents. 
Volume  n.  A  Second  Reader  and  a  Third  Reader.  For  introduction,  25  cents 

BERGEN'S  GLIMPSES  AT  THE  PLANT  WORLD. 

By  Fanny  D.  Ber(;en.     For  introduction,  50  cents. 

HALE'S  LITTLE  FLOWER  PEOPLE. 

By  Gertrude  Elisabeth  Hale.     For  introduction,  40  cents. 


QINN  &  COnPANY,  Publishers, 

Boston.    New  York.    Chicago.    Atlanta.    Dallas.    San  Francisco.    London. 


CLASSICS  FOR  CHILDREN 


Choice  Literature;  Judicious  Notes;   Large  Type; 
Firm  Binding;   Low  Prices. 


For  the  frices  and  bibliographies  of  these  books,  see 
our  Catalogue  of  School  and  College  Text-Books. 


Aesop's  Fables. 

Andersen's  Fairy  Tales.     No.  i. 

Andersen's  Fairy  Tales.     No.  2. 

Bunyan's  Pilgrim's  Progress. 

Purt's  Stories  from  Plato. 

Chesterfield's  Letters. 

Church's  Stories  of  the  Old  World. 

Defoe's  Robinson  Crusoe. 

Dickens'  Tale  of  Two  Cities. 

Cervantes'  Don  Quixote. 

Epictetus. 

Fiske-Irving's  Washington. 

Fouque's  Undine. 

Francillon's  Gods  and  Heroes. 

Franklin:  His  Life  by  Himself. 

Goldsmith's  Vicar  of  Wakefield. 

Grimm's  Fairy  Tales,  Part  I. 

Grimm's  Fairy  Tales,  Part  IL 

Grote   and    Segur's   Two    Great 

Retreats. 
Hale's  Arabian  Nights. 
Hatim  Ta'i. 
Heidi. 

Hughes'  Tom  Brown  at  Rugby. 
Hugo's  Jean  Valjean. 
Irving's  Alhambra. 
Irving's  Sketch-Book.    (6  Selec.) 
Jefferies'  Sir  Bevis. 
Johnson's  Rasselas. 
Kingsley's  Greek  Heroes. 


Kingsley's  Water  Babies. 
Lamb's  Adventures  of  Ulysses. 
Lamb's  Tales  from  Shakespeare. 
Litchfield's  Nine  Worlds. 
Marcus  Aurelius. 
Martineau's     Peasant     and     the 

Prince. 
Merchant  of  Venice. 
Montgomery's  Heroic  Ballads. 
Peter  Schlemihl. 
Picciola. 

Plutarch's  Lives. 

Ruskin's  King  of  the  Golden  River 
Selections  from  Ruskin. 
Scott's  Guy  Mannering. 

Ivanhoe. 

Lady  of  the  Lake. 

Lay  of  the  Last  Minstrel. 

Marmion. 

(31d  Mortality. 

Quentin  Durward. 

Rob  Roy. 

Tales  of  a  Grandfather. 

Talisman. 
Southey's  Life  of  Nelson. 
vSwift's  Gulliver's  Travels. 
White's  Selborne. 
Williams  and  Foster's  Selections 

for  Memorizing. 
Wyss'  Swiss  Family  Robinson. 


GINN   &   COMPANY,  Publishers, 


Boston. 


New  York. 


Chicago.  Atlanta. 


Dallas. 


